The Little Girl On Fire
by BloomingRue
Summary: What would have happened if Katniss hadn't volunteered for Prim?  First story, so don't be hateful, Rated T because it's Hunger Games
1. Chapter 1: The Reaping

**PART I: "The Tributes"**

"Prim. Get up."

I blink a few times before I open my eyes to see my mother standing over me, a blank look on her face, not that she ever really has much expression. I remember my nightmares and hold out my arms to Buttercup, who eagerly runs them, warming me up. "Is Katniss still gone?" I ask, but I know the answer, because my mother only wakes me up when she is.

"She'll be back soon, she knows she has to be." she says flatly, and then places a pair of neatly folded clothes on my lap. "Start getting ready, Prim." she says, and then walks away to start getting ready herself.

I look at Buttercup, smiling warmly. He has a fierce face, his instincts for protecting me always on, but when he sees my smile, he stops, and gives me a smile of his own. "Good boy." I say gently, petting his back, and then scratching behind his ear. I get up, decided it would be better to get ready before Katniss returns.

I lay out the clothes and examine them. A creamy white ruffled blouse, and a midnight blue skirt. I recognize them as the outfit Katniss wore at her first reaping, bringing the thoughts of the nightmare back to my head. I try to shake it off. "What do _you_ think, Buttercup?" I ask.

He lets out a meow, and I laugh.

"Good." I say, and quickly change into the lovely clothes. "Mother," I say after a moment of fussing with the clothes. "They're too big." I tell her, trying to tuck the blouse into the skirt, and also attempting to keep the skirt up.

"Give me a minute," she calls back. "And I'll help you." she says, and after a rather long moment for me, she comes out. "Oh, wow." I say in a whisper. She looks very pretty with a bright red dress and matching heels, she seems to be slightly struggling, because she doesn't wear heels much. While she makes her way over to me, I slide into a pair of black flats, hoping that she won't make me wear heels too.

She lets out a groan as she sees me struggling with my outfit. "We're going to need more pins." she says, looking down at the four pins in her palm. She shakes her head and walks away to get more. "Just let me start a bath for Katniss." she says, and then I hear the water running, and she comes back with a hand full of pins, and begins to get to work.

By the time we're finished, Katniss is walking through the door, her game bag on her shoulder, and a frown on her face. She looks at me for a moment, watching me struggle with my outfit, then she smiles, puts away her game bag, and dashes into the bathroom. She comes out after a while with a ragged towel wrapped around herself, and sees the beautiful blue dress mother laid out for me.

"Are you sure?" she asks, disbelief in her voice as she stares at it. I stare at it too, mother's clothes are so special to her.

"Of course, let's put your hair up, too." she says, and takes another towel, placing it on Katniss' head, drying her hair, then putting it up in a lovely braid. When she's done, I can't help but look in awe at my older sister.

"You look beautiful," I say quietly, staring at her reflection in the mirror, and finding even more shock in staring at her.

She does a motion that looks like she's almost shaking her head. "And nothing like myself." she says, and then hugs me. My mind can't help but go back to my nightmare. It was Katniss. In the Hunger Games. Dying. When I woke up, almost screaming, tears rushing down my face, I made a promise to myself; I would never let her be in those games. No matter what. "Tuck you're tail in, little duck," she says, smoothing back my blouse back into place.

I giggle, smiling up at her. "Quack." I say happily, almost forgetting my previous worries.

"Quack yourself." she says with a light laugh, the kind she only makes when I'm with her. "Come on, let's eat." she says, and kisses me on the top of the head.

The fish and greens stew I put together when I woke up from the dream is still cooking, but it's for supper. Katniss insists on saving the strawberries and bakery bread she got from Gale for supper as well. Instead, we drink some milk from my pet goat, Lady, and eat some of the rough bread made from tessera grain, although we don't really eat much. No one's hungry today.

At one o'clock, mother takes us to the square, which has a feeling of grimness it doesn't normally have. The camera crews on the rooftops don't help ease the bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. The bright banners only make me sick. Only one thing actually manages to make me feel slightly better, and that thing is Rory, who steps in next to me in the twelve year old line after signing in.

"Hey, Prim," he says quietly, obviously not exactly talkative today.

Rory's one of my close friend's, he's Gale's little brother. I like talking to him, he's a good listener. "Rory," I say with a simple nod. After a moment of silence I say weakly, "I'm nervous."

He laughs at this, and I shoot a glare at him. "And you think the rest of us are excited?" he asks, and I solemnly shake my head. "It doesn't matter anyway, you won't get reaped, and even if you do, everyone likes you to much to let you go and die."

I let his words sink in, and I realize he's right, but it doesn't help. "I'm not nervous for me, I'm nervous for Katniss." I tell him. "Aren't you worried about Gale?" I ask.

He silently nods, but then adds in a barely audible tone, "He can handle himself." He turns his attention towards the stage, because Effie Trinket has already started talking.

"Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!"

I gulp, because the reaping is happening. I only think of Katniss. Her name in there. Twenty four times. I think back to my promise, the promise that I would never let her get reaped, ever.

"Ladies first!" Effie chimes happily, and reaches into the glass ball holding the girls' names. I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself, and then she pulls out the slip of paper and reads the name. I am so relieved it's not Katniss that I don't even realize what she said until Rory looks at me, eyes wide, full of sorrow.

She said Primrose Everdeen.


	2. Chapter 2: On The Train

I stare at Rory for a moment, he looks scared for me, I'm sure that I have the same expression as him. I look to wear Katniss was standing, and see some boy from the Seam gripping her arm, holding her up. She must have almost passed out. I try to bring some of the color back to my face as I walk to the stage, my hands balled into fists.

Katniss seems to surge to life at the last second, and I know exactly what's going through her head, she's going to try to volunteer for me. I think fast, trying to stop her. Mother needs her. Gale needs her. Everyone at the Hob needs her. She can't go. I shoot her a cold glare, the kind of glare that makes you freeze for a moment, thinking that a person truly hates you. I never give Katniss that look, in fact, I never give anyone that look. But I had to stop her.

In the moment that she paused, Effie Trinket quickly declared me as the female tribute. I try to ignore the people murmuring angrily at the fact I got reaped, because I know I can't cry, not in front of the cameras, not in front of Panem. I can't be seen as even weaker than I am.

Haymitch staggered across the stage, putting an arm around my shoulders. "Hey look at this one!" he says happily. "I like her! Lot's of...spunk!" he declares, obviously referring to the glare that saved Katniss' life. "More than you!" he yells, pointing at a camera. "More than you!" at this point, he topples off the stage.

"And now, time to choose our boy tribute!" Effie says with an unnaturally kind smile, trying to ignore Haymitch to the best of her ability. She reaches a hand inside the boys' glass ball, fishing around inside, until finally her hand comes out, and she unfolds the slip of paper. "Peeta Mellark!"

I look to the crowd, and see a sixteen-year-old boy step out of his line. Peeta Mellark. He had somewhat curly blonde hair and bold blue eyes. His face is emotionless, but he is struggling with keeping it that way as he walks to the stage in silence.

Effie Trinket asks for volunteers. Nothing. The mayor reads the long, dull Treaty of Treason, but I'm not listening, I'm looking at Rory, he's looking right back up at me. For some odd reason, I get the feeling that if Rory was a girl, he would have tried to volunteer for me. He is, after all, my best friend, or at least, that's what I think. All too soon, the mayor finishes and motions for Peeta and me to shake hands.

He extends a hand, which I weakly take, he gives my small hand a reassuring squeeze, then, drops it. I realize I don't want to kill him, and start praying someone else does before I have to. After this, we are taken into the Justice Building, and I wait for my visitors.

Katniss and mother come in first, Katniss dashes to my side, lifts me up off the velvet couch, and places me on her lap. Mother wraps her arms around us, and for a few minutes, we say nothing, just holding onto this moment, where we're together.

"I'm sorry." I finally say after a while. "I just couldn't let you volunteer, everyone needs you. No one needs me." I tell her, and she just stares at me with wide eyes.

"I need you." she says quietly, hugging my tightly. "And so does everyone else. Someone needs to be cheery in this place." she says looking around in disgust.

I sigh. "One less mouth to feed." I tell her, and for a while, we all don't talk again.

"Prim, you're brave and sweet and kind, you can't die." Katniss says firmly. "You _won__'__t_ die." she tells me. "Promise me you'll come home."

I stiffen, knowing I can't promise anything, before I lamely say, "I'll try."

The Peacekeepers come in a little while later and take them away, Katniss at this point is crying, and my mother looks the same way she did when father died in the...accident.

My next visitor surprises me. It's the Peeta boy's father, the baker. He doesn't say anything, he simply pulls out a small white package and drops it in my lap. Cookies, the kind with the frosting he often catches me admiring. I love it.

"Thank you." I say weakly. "Will you make sure Katniss and my mother are okay?" I ask him after what seems like a long time passes.

"I'll make sure of it." he says, and as if on cue, the Peacekeepers come for him, and he's gone.

My next visitor is another surprise. Madge Undersee urgently walks to me. "They let you wear one thing from your district in the arena. One thing to remind you of home. Will you wear this?" she asks me, holding out the circular gold that holds the image of a Mockingjay.

"You're pin?" I ask her.

"Here, I'll put it on you're blouse. All right?" she asks, not even bothering for an answer before she pins it on, right on my heart. "Promise you'll wear it into the arena, Primrose?" she asks. "Promise?"

Madge Undersee isn't my friend, not even close. She is far older than me, the only reason I even know her is because she is the daughter of the mayor. I'm surprised that she even knows my name, maybe because she's my sister's friend.

"Yes." I say. Cookies, a pin, I'm getting all kinds of gifts today.

Madge kisses me on top of the head, gives me a hug, and then leaves as quickly as she came.

The last visitors I get aren't really a surprise at all. Gale and Rory. Gale sits on the couch next to me, but Rory seems to be fighting with himself, and sits in an armchair next to it, farther away from me.

"Prim, focus on edible plants. Okay?" Rory asks, knowing my skills. "And camouflage, you're okay at that. And you can climb, stay to the trees." he says, then whispers, "If there are any."

"Okay." I tell him, and then turn to Gale. "Any advice?" I ask.

"What did Katniss show you in the woods the day she tried to teach you to hunt?" he asks me, staring deeply into my eyes.

"Hiding, not scaring off the game. I was okay with a bow, I guess." I mutter to him.

"Then get a bow, and whatever else you turn out to be handy with." he tells me, and then we just sit in silence, besides the occasional cough from Gale.

Eventually, the Peacekeepers come in, and gesture towards the door. I hug Gale, and he promises he'll try to help my mother and Katniss if they need it. Rory tries to go for the door, but I block his path and give him a large hug, I knew he had been too emotional to try and talk to me too much, but I needed one last hug from him before I die. After the hugs, they both left.

It's a short ride from the Justice Building to the train station, the car was nice, I had never been in one before, in the Seam, we travel on foot. I silently thank myself for not crying when we arrive, the place is swarming with reporters, all of them flashing pictures of me and Peeta, who seemed to have cried, and was not trying to cover it up at all.

We stand in the doorway of the train for a little while, letting the reporters take as many pictures as they like, most of them are fussing over me, being young and all, but many are curious about Peeta as well. When the door to the train opens, I step inside, Peeta quietly following.

The train amazes me, the speed however, knocks me off my feet, and I crash into Peeta, not that my small stature effects him, he simply catches me and stands me upright, giving me a weak smile. I try to smile back, but fail miserably, it's sort of hard to smile at a person who could end up killing you.

Effie Trinket assigns up rooms on the train, and she walks me to mine, fussing about how she hopes supper will be to my liking, and even more, hers. She also tells me I can wear anything I want, this lightens up my mood. When I enter the room I remove Katniss' reaping clothes and take a warm shower, after of course, figuring out what all the buttons did. Because I had never had a shower before, I find it so nice that I end up blindly pushing random buttons, and when I'm come out, my scent is somewhere between a field of wild flowers and scented candles.

I dress in a green shirt and a pair of plain old pants. I remember Madge's Mockingjay pin and fasten it on my shirt, then I wait until Effie comes to collect me for supper. I almost get lost a few times, but manage to find her by following the click of her heels, when we get there, Peeta is waiting for us.

"Where's Haymitch?" Effie asks.

"Last time I saw him, he said he was going to take a nap." Peeta says.

"Well, it's been an exhausting day." says Effie. I think she's relieved by Haymitch's absence, and who can blame her?

Supper comes in courses, but I don't pay attention to what comes, nor what I eat. I just shovel it in, I'm one of the smallest people in the Seam, even for a twelve year old, I hope to gain a few pounds before the games, I could use the strength of a good meal.

"At least, you two have decent manners," Effie says. "The pair last year ate everything with their hands like a couple of savages." she says. "It completely upset my digestion." she tells us, her snide comment upsets me, but I know it would be a mistake to upset her, so I say nothing.

After the meal, I see Peeta looks just as green as I feel. We both can't handle so much food, but since I've never had this much _good_ food, I'm determined to keep it in my stomach.

We go to another part of the train to watch the reapings, I note who to look out for. A murderous pair from District 2, a girl with a face like a fox's from District 5, a boy with a crippled foot from District 10, and the pair from District 11. A large, tall, strong boy who could probably kill me in half a second, a twelve year old girl, similar to me, who reminds me of a bird. A plan to make her a friend, maybe even an ally.

My thoughts get the better of me and I walk away before District 12 comes on, not even wanting to see the look I gave Katniss. I dash to my room, no one comes after me, and I try to go to sleep, but I know that I can't. Even so, after a while sleep manages to claim me. And then I have the dream again, but this time Katniss isn't in the arena. I am.


	3. Chapter 3: The Capitol

Sleep didn't last long. After the first series of nightmares, flashing between the boy from District 2 gutting me like a fish, and the boy from District 11 crushing me like a grape. It wasn't pleasant. After that, I stayed up most of the night, trying not to let sleep take me, because I knew it would try to scare me to death.

Effie comes in to rouse me, but when she sees me awake, she simply says, "Come get some breakfast, dear." After saying that, she leaves.

I get out of bed, and realize that I slept in the outfit from the previous night. It looks fine, so I don't bother to change, and simply follow Effie out, looking at the floor as we walk to the dining car. I am worried because we have to be close to the Capitol, I fear for not only the games, but also the stylists.

When we enter, Effie brushes past me, fetches herself some black coffee, mumbling to herself under her breath. Haymitch chuckles at this, and I notice he isn't looking too good. Peeta simply holds a roll in his hands and has a blush painted across his face.

"Sit down! Sit down!" Haymitch says, waving me over. As soon as I take a seat next to him, I am served with eggs, ham, fried potatoes, fruit, rolls, and orange juice, though I don't have much taste for the liquid, because I don't like oranges. But as I look harder at it, I realize it's coffee, which I don't like even more. Too bitter.

"They call it hot chocolate," Peeta says. "It's good."

I frown at it, not coffee. I take a sip, and the warm, creamy liquid runs through me, and I shudder. It _is_ good. I ignore the rest of the food until my cup is empty, then, I eat as much as I can hold. I'm pleased to see it looks like I may have gained a pound or so, but I'll need a lot more than that to even stand a chance in the games.

When I feel I've had enough, I lean back in my chair and look at my breakfast companions. Peeta is quietly dipping some of his roll in his hot chocolate, and Haymitch is downing some kind of red juice. I find it somewhat odd that the smallest of the three finished first, but I don't question it.

"So, you're supposed to give us advice." I say to Haymitch, hoping he might be able to tell me something that will keep me alive for a while. Katniss would be so depressed if I was killed off early. Haymitch looks at me funny.

"Here's some advice. Stay alive," he says, and then bursts out laughing. I exchange a look with Peeta to find he doesn't look at happy as Haymitch.

"That's very funny," Peeta says. Suddenly he lashes out at Haymitch's drink, the glass shatters on the floor, sending the blood red liquid running toward the back of the train. "Only not to us."

Haymitch considers this for a moment, and I look at the red liquid all over the floor, when I turn back, Peeta is on the ground clutching his jaw. He reaches for some more of the liquid, and I try to think fast, taking my knife, and driving it into the table, right between his fingers. I expect a punch to the jaw as well, but instead, Haymitch sits back and studies us for a moment, almost smirking as he squints at us.

"Well, what's this?" asks Haymitch. "Did I actually get a pair of fighters this year?"

Peeta rises from the floor and tries to put some ice on his jaw.

"No," Haymitch says, stopping him. "Let the bruise show. The audience will think you've mixed it up with another tribute before you've even made it into the arena."

"That's again the rules," mumbles Peeta.

Haymitch smirks. "Only if they catch you. That bruise will say you fought, you weren't caught, even better." he says, and then turns to me. "Can you hit anything with that knife besides a table?" he asks.

I've never even really handled a weapon before, I said I was okay with a bow, but okay won't keep me alive, I've never even touched a throwing knife before, as I throw the knife harshly in the direction of the wall, I pray it will stick, and am relieved when it does.

"Stand over here. Both of you." Haymitch orders, nodding to the middle of the room. We obey and he circles us, prodding us like animals at times, checking our, or rather Peeta's muscles, and examining our faces. "Well, you're not entirely hopeless." he says, finally. "Fit enough." he says, mostly to Peeta. "And you're kinda cute. Once your stylists get a hold of you," he says, turning to Peeta. "You'll be attractive enough." he tells him.

I get why he didn't say it to me, no one falls for a twelve year old. While I think this, I can't help but think of Rory, how the girls talk about him, how I try to ignore them because he's my friend, and just me friend... Right?

"All right, I'll make a deal with you. You don't interfere with my drinking, and I'll stay sober enough to help you." says Haymitch. "You have to do exactly what I say."

"Fine." Peeta spats with a groan.

"Alright, in a few minutes, we'll be pulling into the station. You'll be put in the hands of your stylists. You're not going to like what they do to you. But no matter what it is, don't resist." Haymitch tells us.

"But-" I start.

"No buts. Don't resist." he orders, taking his bottle and leaving the car. As the door swings behind him, the car goes dark. I grip Peeta's hand, not sure what's going on, and again, he gives it a reassuring squeeze. I close my eyes, still holding Peeta's hands, and when they open, I don't believe what I see.

Peeta and I rush to the window and took brightly at the Capitol. The entire place looks magnificent, the glistening buildings, the rainbows in the air, just...everything. The colors were odd though, the pinks too dark, the greens too light, the yellows could blind someone if they looked close enough. The people point eagerly at us as the train begins to roll past them.

I cower in fear, knowing they are the people who are anticipating my death, planning it, even. I'm sure at least one of them is betting that the twelve year old will go first. But Peeta smiles, waving to the crowd, staring at them, all the time still holding my hand, seeing the fear in my eyes. It calms me down a little. Finally, the train pulls into the station, and I can't see the people anymore, only then do I release Peeta's hand.

I realize I like Peeta, he's trying to help me get through this, not letting me face it alone, helping me when I'm scared. He hasn't done one rude thing yet, and I doubt he ever will. But I also realize he wants to stay alive. And that also means; he wants me dead.


	4. Chapter 4: Making Magic

"Almost done, okay, Primmie?"

I smile weakly at Venia through my gritted teeth, my eyes staring at her aqua hair and gold tattoos above her eyes, mostly. She continues to peel the hair off my body, talking to me in her silly Capitol accent, using the nickname that the prep team gave me, I wanted them to stop calling me that, but simply did what Haymitch said. When she pulls off the last of the hair, I sigh in relief.

I've been at the remake center for three hours and still haven't met my stylist. Venia says he has no interest in even seeing me until she and the other two, Octavia with green skin, and Flavius with bright orange curls, make me presentable. All of the things they have done to my body have been awful, but I could almost hear Haymitch yelling at me in my head for screwing up as I considered telling my prep team to stop. But even if I did, why would they listen to a twelve year old?

I'll be honest, after everything they've done to be, I feel like a plucked bird.

_"__Plucked__duck.__" _I can almost hear Katniss saying it in my head, and I smirk at the imaginary voice.

"You're doing very well," Flavius says to me. "If there's one thing we can't stand it's a whiner. Grease her down!" he orders, and Venia and Octavia quickly do it. The lotion stings a bit, but at this point, I'm used to the stinging, it quickly soothes my raw skin, anyway. The pull me down from the table and remove my robe, exposing me to them, and I feel myself shrinking as they circle me, staring, tweezers at the ready.

"Excellent!" Flavius says happily. "You look great! Even more like a human being!"

"Thank you." I say in a quiet voice, but say nothing more. I think about what Katniss might say, then add, "We don't have much cause to look good in District 12."

"Of course you don't, you poor little darling!" Octavia says, clasping her hands together in distress for me.

"But don't worry, by the time Cinna is through with you, you'll look amazing!" Venia says happily. "Let's call Cinna!" she smiles, and the three of them dart out of the room.

I sigh and try to resist the urge to put my robe back on, my stylist would probably make me remove it again anyway. I play with my hair, my mother had curled it lightly for the reaping, but let it hang down my back, even Katniss would admit, it looked good. It hadn't changed even the slightest bit over the last day or so, which didn't surprise me at all, I didn't get much sleep, so I couldn't say I had a bed-head.

The door opens and a young man who must be Cinna enters. For a Capitol citizen he looks almost _too_ normal, he has short brown cropped hair, simple black clothes, and the only weird thing is the gold eyeliner he sports, though it does succeed in making the gold flecks in his bright green eyes stand out.

"Hello, Prim. I'm Cinna, you're stylist." he says in a quiet voice that doesn't really sound Capitol.

"Hello." I say curiously.

"Just give me a moment, all right?" he asks, and begins to circle my body, not touching me, but staring at it intensely, I resist the urge to dive for the robe. "Who did your hair?" he finally asks.

"My mother." I say quietly.

"It's beautiful, and in almost perfect balance with your profile." he tells me, smiling. "You're mother has clever fingers." I've just decided I like Cinna, too.

"Are you new? I don't think I've seen you before." I tell him.

"Yes, this is my first year in the games." he says.

"So they gave you a District 12?" I ask almost expectantly.

"I asked for a District 12." Cinna says. "Why don't you put on your robe, and we'll have a chat."

I scramble to grab my robe, and literally hear Katniss chuckling in my head. I put on the robe, and follow Cinna into another room. Two red couches face off over a lower table. The window has a great view of the city, and I can see by the light that it must be around noon. Cinna invites me to sit on one of the couches, and takes his seat across from me. The table's top splits open and what would be a feast back home pops out.

Chicken, and chunks of oranges cooked in a creamy sauce, laid on a bed of pearly white grain, tiny green peas and onions, rolls shaped like flowers, and for dessert, honey colored pudding. I ignore the bitter oranges and enjoy the sight of the rest of the food. I look up at Cinna to see him studying me.

"How despicable we must seem to you." he says sadly.

"I like you." I say with a shrug, and it's true, I don't know why, but I see a friend in Cinna, something that will try to keep me alive.

"Hm," Cinna says with curiosity. "So, Prim, about your outfit for the opening ceremonies, my partner, Portia, is the stylist for your fellow tribute, Peeta. And our current thought is to dress you in complementary costumes." he says. "As you know, it's customary to reflect the flavor of the District."

"So I'll be in a coal miner outfit?" I ask him with pursed lips.

"Not exactly, you see, Portia and I think that coal miner thing's very overdone." Cinna explains. "No one will remember you in that. And we both see it as our job to make the District 12 tributes unforgettable."

It dawns on me that in a few hours I'm going to be standing in front of all of Panem naked.

"So rather than focus on the coal mining itself, we're going to focus on the coal." he says. Naked and covered in black dust. "And what do we do with coal? We burn it."

I don't understand where Cinna's going with all of this.

"You're not afraid of fire, are you, Prim?" he sees my expression and grins.


	5. Chapter 5: The Little Girl On Fire

A few hours later, I am dressed in what will either be the most sensational or the deadliest costume in the opening ceremonies. I'm in a simple black unitard that covers me from ankle to neck. Shiny leather boots lace up to my knees. But it's the fluttering cape made of streams of orange, yellow, and red and the matching headpiece that define this costume. Cinna plans to light them on fire just before our chariot rolls into the streets.

"It's not real flame, of course, just a little synthetic fire Portia and I came up with. You'll be perfectly safe," he says. I try to listen to him, but again I realize that I feel the same way I did on reaping day, and I can't get any comfort from Rory this time.

Cinna has barely put any makeup on my face, and has almost left my hair completely alone, aside from primping it a little. He tells me it's all for good reason, and that too much makeup would take away my "natural cuteness", my prep team had other ideas, but, Cinna wouldn't have it.

"I want the audience to recognize you when you're in the arena," says Cinna dreamily. "Primrose, the little girl who was on fire."

I am relieved when Peeta finally arrives in a costume similar to mine. After Cinna finished warily accepting his congratulations, he takes us to our chariot, complete with coal-black horses, and a black aura all about it. We are sent inside it, while our body positions and other small things our changed by our stylists, and then they start to consult with each other.

"What do you think?" I whisper to Peeta. "About the fire?"

"I'll rip you're cape off if you'll rip off mine." he whispers back through gritted teeth.

"Deal." I tell him, hoping that he can rip it off of me before any serious burns start to happen. "I know we promised Haymitch we'd do exactly what they said, but I don't think he considered this angle."

Peeta frowns. "Where is Haymitch, anyway? Isn't he supposed to protect us from this sort of thing?"

"With all that alcohol in him, it's probably not advisable to have him around an open flame." I mutter, hoping he's staying true to his promise to stay sober enough to keep us alive. Within seconds Peeta and me are both laughing, or really, he's laughing, I'm giggling.

Suddenly, the opening music begins. It's blasted around the Capitol, and District 1 rides out on a Chariot pulled by snow-white horses. They look beautiful in sparkly silver tunics, littered with jewels. Considering they made luxury items for the Capitol, I don't know why I'm so surprised.

District 2 quickly follows them out, and in no time at all District 11 is on their way out. Just then Cinna appears with a lighted torch.

"Here we go then," he says, and before me and Peeta can do anything, the capes and headdresses we wear and aflame. I wait for the pain, for Peeta to rip off my cape, but nothing happens. Cinna sighs in relief. "It works." then, he tucks a hand under my chin. "Remember heads high! They're going to love you!"

Cinna jumps off the chariot, but at the last second, he has another idea and shouts it to us. Then does it again, and makes a gesture.

"What's he saying?" I ask Peeta.

"I think he said for us to hold hands," Peeta says, and before he can even reach for mine, I grip his hand, realizing that besides Rory, holding his hand calms me down, he can handle things better than me. We both look to Cinna and he gives us an approving nod with a thumbs-up. And then he's gone, and we enter the city.

The crowd is at first shocked at how we look, but then they burst into applaud, cheering, clapping, for us. _For__me_. The music, the cheering, my head hurts a little, but I try to smile as wide as I can. Cinna has given me a great advantage. No one will forget me. Not my look. Not my name. Primrose. The little girl who was on fire.

Someone throws me a rose, but upon further examination I find it's an evening primrose. I catch it, give it a delicate sniff, and thinking on my feet, blow a kiss back in the general direction of the giver, holding the primrose again my chest. A hundred hands seem to try to catch my kiss, as if it were real. I can't imagine why, though.

"Prim! Primrose!"

I hear my name being called everywhere, everyone wants my kisses. I give a small blush.

As we enter the City Circle, I realize Peeta's been holding my hand sort of tight, he tries to pull away, but I shake my head at him.

"Please, hold on." I mumble, and he gives me nod, and does just that.

The president welcomes us as all the chariots come in. After a little while of him talking, and me not listening, all of our chariots quickly disappear into the Training Center. As soon as we enter, our prep teams arrive, babbling about how great we were and such, Portia extinguishes the fire with some kind of spray from a can, and I turn to Peeta, removing my hand, we both rub them to ease the slight pain.

"Thanks for keeping hold of me, I was uh...a bit nervous." I tell him, being truthful.

"It didn't show." he tells me. "I'm sure no one noticed."

"You're right, I'm sure all they noticed was you." I tell him. "You should wear flames more often. They suit you." I say, or at the very least they look good.

Peeta smiles warmly at me, and then he kisses me on the cheek, having to bend down a bit to do it. As she walks away I realize I'm finding out more and more about myself. And the one thing about myself I'm discovering now; I'm so confused.


	6. Chapter 6: Pretty

The day had droned on after what happened in front of the chariots, Effie had informed us of her trying to fetch us sponsors, she had shown me my new room for the next week or so, which was huge, by the way, and also has so much technology in it, I'm tempted to ask for another one. But I know I will be ignored. As always.

Eventually Effie calls me to dinner, which I'm happy about because I'm starving. When we come in, Peeta, Cinna, Portia are standing out on a balcony that overlooks the Capitol, I'm glad to see all of them, though I'm a little shaken when I hear Haymitch will be joining us.

I'm glad that dinner will be mostly about planning strategies, I'm not very hungry, haven't been since Peeta gave me the peck on the cheek. I always assumed Rory would be the first to try to kiss me, I wouldn't ask for it, but you would think he might have a crush on me, considering how he acts sometimes. If you asked me if I had a crush on _him_, I wouldn't confirm it, but...I also wouldn't deny it.

Haymitch manages to arrive just as dinner is being served, he looks clean and groomed, and I'm truly believing that he stayed true to our deal, and hasn't had too much alcohol today. Small talk comes around the table, mostly about mine and Peeta's outfits, but I don't listen, I just pick at my food with my fork, glancing every now and then at Peeta.

A young man offers me some wine, but, being twelve, Haymitch just gives me a look when I reach for it, and I ask for some water instead. When the talk turns to interviews, I'm distracted by a redheaded girl placing a gorgeous cake on the table. She then lights it, and the flames flicker beautifully until they burn out. I quietly clap and smile up at the girl.

"Pretty," I say to her, and whether I'm talking about the cake's amazing show, or her beautiful face, remains a mystery. Regardless, she blushes.

"Prim, you're not supposed to talk to the Avoxes unless you're giving them an order." Effie says in a hushed voice.

I cock my head at her. "What's an Avox?"

Haymitch sighs. "Someone who committed a crime, they cut her tongue so she can't speak." he tells me. "She's probably a traitor of some sort."

"And yes, Primrose, the cake is very pretty." Cinna says, jumping in on the conversation, instantly assuming I had meant the cake was the lovely thing. "I ordered it special in honor of your fiery debut." he tells me. After eating some cake, we go into another room to watch the opening ceremonies. Everyone in the room cheers as me and Peeta flash on the screen, looking even more amazing than I would have thought.

"Who's idea was the hand holding?" Haymitch asks.

"Cinna's." Portia replies.

Haymitch smirks. "Just the perfect touch of rebellion, very nice."

I realize he's right, never before have I seen a pair of tributes hold hands, smile, waving at the crowd and owning the world like me and Peeta did. We didn't put ourselves out as enemies or adversaries. No. Panem saw _us_ as friends.

"Tomorrow morning is the first training session. Meet me for breakfast and I'll tell you exactly how I want you to play it," Haymitch tells us. "Now, go get some sleep while the grownups talk."

Peeta walks down the corridors with me as we search out our rooms, but I pause abruptly just before we reach them.

"Why did you kiss me?" I suddenly ask, not fully sure why, but wanting an answer nonetheless.

Peeta pauses, shrugs, and then asks, "Have you been on the roof yet?"

I'm angered he won't tell me, but then I shake my head, realizing I'll probably find out eventually. "Can we go up?" I ask him.

"Sure, come on." Peeta says happily, and I follow him to a flight of stairs that lead to the roof. There's a small dome-shaped room with a door to the outside. As we step into the cool, windy evening air, I catch my breath at the view. The Capitol twinkles like a vast field of fireflies. Electricity in District 12 comes and goes, usually we only have it a few hours a day. Often the evenings are spent in candlelight. The only time you can count on it is when they're airing the Games or some important government message on television that it's mandatory to watch. But here there would be no shortage. Ever.

Peeta and I walk over to the railing and look out over the Capitol, which is buzzing with people, and just as pretty as ever.

"I asked Cinna why they let us up here. Weren't they worried that some of the tributes might decide to jump right over the side?" says Peeta.

"What'd he say?" I ask.

"You can't," says Peeta. He holds out his hand into seemingly empty space. There's a sharp zap and he jerks it back. "Some kind of electric field throws you back on the roof."

"Always worried about our safety," I mutter. Even though Cinna has shown Peeta the roof, I wonder if we're supposed to be up here now, so late and alone. I've never seen tributes on the Training Center roof before. But that doesn't mean we're not being taped. "Do you think they're watching us now?"

"Maybe," he admits. "Come see the garden." he says, and I follow him to a lovely garden with almost every flower you could imagine, or at least, every flower _I_could imagine, and trust me that I know a lot.

I see a patch of primroses, and smile at them. I also looks at the rues planted right next to them, and remember that I must become allies with Rue, because she is the only other twelve year old, and looking at the innocent girl I saw on the TV screen, I realize, I could trust her.

"You're shivering." Peeta says, taking his jacket off and wrapping it around my shoulders.

"Stop that." I tell him with a bit of anger in my voice.

"What?" he asks with a chuckle, picking a primrose and giving it a light sniff. "I can see why you were named after one of these," he says. "They are very gentle and sweet." he tells me, then snaps off the primrose's stem, and tucks the flower into my hair.

"It's cold, can we go in?" I ask him, and he shrugs, and then nods. I hand him his jacket once we come back inside. "Night." I call to him, then walk to my room, hoping to actually get some nightmare less sleep. But knowing that won't happen. I'm more confused than ever, and I miss everyone so much, especially Katniss and Rory. But I try to keep my emotions under wraps.

Tomorrow is the first day of training. And training is not the time to break down and start crying. When I reach my room, I see the Avox girl picking up my unitard and boots from where I left them next to the shower, which I had taken before dinner.

"Oh, I'm sorry, can you please take those to Cinna for me?" I ask her, and she nods. "Oh, and one more thing." I say, and she stares at me deeply. "The cake isn't what was so pretty." I tell her, and she smiles slightly, then holds my lost clothing tighter and dashes out of the room, closing the door behind her.

I remove my clothes and put on a nightgown that reminds me of the color of a sunset. I climb into bed, wrapping the blankets around me, trying to regenerate body heat. Eventually, I doze off, and for the first time in a while, I have a pleasant dream. I'm back home. I'm happy. And I'm with Rory. Too bad it's only a dream, because I realize, I'll never see him again.


	7. Chapter 7: Training

After dreaming about Rory all night, I finally wake up, drag myself into the shower, and try to recall each individual dream, though some of them were just memories replaying in my head, a lot of them were actual dreams. My favorite one had to be when Rory took me for a walk in the square.

_ "How's Lady doing?" he asks, kicking a rock with his foot, and it flies through the air, going out of our sights before it lands somewhere._

_ "Better," I tell him, for my pet had become ill, and me and mother were doing everything we could to care for her. "I'm hoping she'll pull through."_

_ Rory smirks at me. "Hey, she's a tough one, I'm sure she'll be fine." he moves his foot to kick another rock, but I beat him to it, and he watches it sail through the air, landing a few feet away. "Not the best kicker, are you?"_

It's at that point in the dream that Rory gets a punch in the arm. When I step out of the shower, I wrap a towel around myself and try to dry off, trying to hold onto the memories of the dreams, but feeling them drift away. I sigh when most of them just become a flickering image that I can hardly recall.

After I'm dried off, I put on a long-sleeved burgundy shirt, and a pair of black pants, along with some leather shoes. I'm relieved to finally look like myself after all the things my prep team did to me, but also disappointed, having liked the girl I saw on the TV screen yesterday.

Haymitch didn't say when to meet him for breakfast, but I'm hungry so I go get some anyway. When I enter the dining room, a young man, an Avox seeming to be waiting for my entry, along with a great amount of food. I load a plate with eggs, bacon, and some purple melon that oddly seems to match my shirt, which I'm sure the Avox might comment on. If, of course, he could.

Once I sit down, I stuff myself with all the food, still on my quest to gain some weight, which seems to not be going well, but at least I can't really count my ribs anymore. After finishing this, I get some beef stew, and some rolls, trying to do what Peeta did with the rolls, dipping them in hot chocolate. And admittedly, it's not bad.

My mind wanders to Katniss and mother. Mother would probably be making Katniss some breakfast...or maybe Katniss would make it, she doesn't really like mother doing things for her. Katniss would be getting ready to go to school, annoyed that she couldn't be in the woods with Gale, hunting. Two mornings ago, I was home, with her. With mother. With Rory.

I try to push them all out of my mind, because it only brings tears to my eyes, and I promised myself I wouldn't cry today. Haymitch and Peeta come in, say hello, and then get their food as well. I'm somewhat annoyed that Peeta's wearing the exact same outfit as me, because once the games begin, all this friend stuff is going to have to be over.

I'm nervous about the training, of course. I know it will give me a chance to work with my skills, get some new ones, and try to earn sponsors, and in addition, try to earn Rue as an ally, because I've already decided, she _will_ be my ally. But, in reality, I know I will only be chilled to the bone when I see what the other tributes can do.

"So, let's get down to business. Training. First off, if you like, I'll coach you separately. Decide now." Haymitch demands.

"Why would you coach us separately?" I ask.

"Say if you had a secret skill you might not want the other to know about," says Haymitch.

I exchange a look with Peeta. "I don't have any secret skills," he says.

"Me neither, aside from healing, but my entire District knows about _that_." I mutter, and Peeta quietly chuckles under his breath. "You can coach us together." I tell Haymitch, Peeta just nods.

"All right, so give me some idea of what you can do," says Haymitch.

"I can't do anything," says Peeta. "Unless you count baking bread."

"Sorry, I don't. Prim, I already know you're handy with a knife," says Haymitch.

"Not really, but I'm good with plants, and my sister showed me how to handle a bow and arrow," I tell him. "I'm not great, though."

"If Katniss taught you," Peeta chimed in. "You have to be _at__least_ great." he says, and I give him a questioning glance.

"Who's this Katniss?" Haymitch asks with a confused look.

"My older sister, she hunts. She's good." I tell him, but apparently Haymitch can tell how close I am to crying, so he tries to move onto Peeta's skills.

"You have to be able to do _something_." Haymitch tells him with an angry look.

"He can," I mumble. "He can lift really heavy things, and wrestle, and frost the most amazing and beautiful cakes you'll ever see." I say, trying to tell Peeta how much I admire his cakes.

Haymitch lifts an eyebrow at the last part, but shrugs it off. "Good then, try and get some more skills." he tells Peeta. "Some more _useful_skills." he tries to be more specific. "How about allies?"

"I want Rue." I say on instinct.

"No surprise there," Haymitch mutters. "What about you?" he asks Peeta, but Peeta doesn't answer, he just stares blankly at Haymitch, who glares at him in return. "Fine then, don't tell me." he growls. "While you're training, stay at each other's sides, all right?" he asks, Peeta and me don't try to disagree. "Try to learn something new, throw a spear, swing a snare, anything useful." he tells us. "Meet Effie at the elevator at ten for training." he says lastly, and then walks away.

Me and Peeta both walk back to our rooms, and it dawns on me that the primrose is still tucked in my hair. Wet, battered, missing some petals, and all too close to falling out, but it's still there. I pull it out and examine it, then hand it to Peeta, and skip away to my room.

I sit around for a little while, not knowing what to do, I look around for another set of clothes, hoping to still not be twinned to Peeta, but then remember what Haymitch said about doing what our stylists said. So, I simply sit on my bed and daydream for a little while. When it's almost ten, I clean my teeth, smooth back my hair, and try to mentally prepare myself for training. I walk to the elevator to find Effie and Peeta have already arrived.

The training room ends up being far below the ground, in the elevator we're in, we're there in about half a minute. When the elevator door opens, we're greeted by a large gymnasium filled with weapons and obstacle courses. While someone pins a number 12 on my back, I examine the other tributes, and as I guessed, Peeta and I are the only ones dressed alike. We quickly join the circle of tributes, hoping to learn what to do.

A tall, athletic woman named Atala comes out and explains the different stations and a few things about the training room to us. When she stops talking, all of the tributes jump to their feet, looking for the weapons they have skill with.

"What should we do first?" I ask Peeta with a frown.

Peeta surveys the room for half a second, then says, "Can we try camouflage? I think I might be good at it."

I give him a nod and we both quietly head over to empty station, smiling at the trainers, who seem to be relieved to have people to instruct. As Peeta predicted, he is amazing with this particular station, and goes so far that I have to remind him what Haymitch said. After this we try knots, and as it turns out, I'm not half bad with setting traps or making snares, judging by how good my knots are, at least.

Over the next three days, Peeta and me go from station to station, picking up a few skills, I learn how to handle a slingshot; he manages to get some skill with a spear. I try my hand with archery; he tries his hand with throwing knives.

All of us tributes have lunch together, in the dining room off the gymnasium. The Career tributes all sit at one table, basking in their glory. Imagining their tactics for killing the rest of us, and secretly imagining how they will turn on each other. I find refuge sitting with Peeta, and sometimes Rue, with whom I become a fast friend. But that doesn't exactly mean she'll be my ally when the time comes. Sometimes during training, Rue watches us, or maybe just Peeta, I'm not entirely sure.

When the day comes for our private training with the Gamemakers, all Haymitch tells me is, "Don't screw up." It goes the same way for Peeta, and then he sends us off.

At first, it goes slow, District 1, District 2, District 3...soon enough the District 7 tributes are gone, at this point I start to talk quietly with Peeta, sometimes Rue joins in on the conversation, but she mostly just tries to whisper things to her District partner, who I think is Thresh. No matter what his name is, I'll admit; he scares me. In a matter of time, Peeta is called, and then I'm all alone.

When my name is called, I take a deep breath, and silently walk into the gymnasium. I instantly know I'm in trouble. Most of the Gamemakers look half asleep, the rest of them are drunk and singing songs. I realize that almost none of them will be paying any attention to _me_, and know that I will have to do something big.

At first, I try shooting some arrows at dummies, most of them hit their mark, and a few Gamemakers give me some encouraging words, some of them clap, some of them sing their drunken wine songs. I do some of my edible plant magic, which doesn't empress them much, no weapons, but I know it might help my score. I go to the slingshot, which is, my better weapon, and hope that I can hit the mark on the dummy with somewhat accuracy.

I turn to the Gamemakers to see if they are watching, no, they're admiring the roasted pig that has just arrived at their buffet table. Something in me snaps at this. Why aren't they paying attention to _me_? Without even thinking, my slingshot shoots, with all the aggression I had, it goes a bit harder off than I intended. Within a matter of seconds, the dummy's head rolls to the floor.

Most of the Gamemakers are looking at me now, admiring my skill with the weapon, which is pretty amazing, because it isn't the best weapon, in fact, it's one of the worst, considering all the other weapons. I look at the dummy's head again, and shudder. I start to head for the throwing knives station when I hear, "Thank you, Primrose, you may go now."

I realize I must have done something wrong, and gulp down the lump in my throat, then leave the room silently.

At dinner, I don't pay any attention, in fact, I daydream again. Cinna and Portia talk a little but not much, Effie seems worried about our scores, and Haymitch seems...Haymitch.

"Okay, enough small talk, just how bad were you today?"

Peeta jumps in. "I don't know that it mattered. By the time I showed up, no one even bothered to look at me. They were singing some kind of drinking song, I think. So, I threw around some heavy objects until they told me I could go."

That makes me feel a bit better about what happened with the slingshot, I should be happy about the dummy's head, I know, and yet, I suddenly feel lethal, like I could do that to a real person.

"And you, sweetheart?" says Haymitch.

"I uh..." I try to recall every bit of what happened. "I shot some arrows, and showed them my edible plants skills, and shot the head off a dummy with a sling shot, and-"

"Really?" Haymitch asks, not sarcastic, but surprised. "Never heard that one before, you must be pretty good." he grins at me, and I smile back.

"Maybe." I say, somehow Haymitch has managed to make me feel a little better, but just a little.

After dinner, we go to sitting room to watch the scores announced on television. First they show a photo of the tribute, then flash their score below it. The Career Tributes naturally get in the eight-to-ten range. Most of the other players average a five. Surprisingly, Rue comes up with a 7. I don't know what she showed the judges, but it must have been impressive.

District 12 comes up last, as usual. Peeta pulls an 8 so at least a couple of the Gamemakers must have been watching him. I dig my fingernails into my palms as my face comes up, expecting something awful. The dummy couldn't have possibly impressed them that much. That's when the number 10 flashes on the screen.

Cheers erupt in the room, and I get the oddest feeling that they're _not_ for Peeta. Everyone's so happy about our scores, I'm a little happy too, I can tell Peeta is.

"How did...?" I can't even finish my question.

"They must have liked you're slingshot trick!" Haymitch declared. More cheers, Peeta and I congratulate each other happily. I try to get to my room as quick as I can, when I do, I don't even bother with a nightgown and just burrow under the covers, the number 10 flashing behind my eyelids.


	8. Chapter 8: Interview Night

I'm awoken by a high-pitched voice, "Prim, up, up, up! It's going to be a big, big, big day!"

I groan under my breath, then remember tomorrow's the interviews, so today must be prepping. I get up, take a shower, and when I come out, I find myself smelling like some kind of mix between pine needles and dandelions, which, actually smells kind of nice. I throw on a pale purple shirt, a pair of gray pants, and my leather shoes, then head down to the dining hall.

"Hello." I say to Effie, Peeta and Haymitch as I enter. I load up a plate with breakfast and take a seat next to Haymitch. "So today you're coaching us on interviews, right?" I ask, and take a sip of some hot chocolate, and then slurp down some of the lamb and plum stew.

"That's right," Haymitch tells me.

"Okay," I say. "So what's the schedule?"

"You'll each have four hours with Effie for presentation and four with me for content," says Haymitch. "Why don't you two start with Effie?" he asks, and me and Peeta both nod.

When Peeta and I arrive to work with Effie, she manages to throw us into the fanciest clothes she can probably find. Peeta winds up in a jet black tuxedo, and I'm wearing a bright blue dress that reminds me of the color of the sky, and a pair of flats. Effie explains that she knows I could never handle heels, and that Cinna agreed, which relieves me.

The next four hours consist of walking around without trying to hold my dress above my ankles, sitting, posture, eye contact, hand gestures, and smiling, so much smiling. Though I've never had the slightest problem with smiling, by the time we're done, my face really hurts. I can tell that Peeta's feeling the saw way, mostly because he's rubbing the spot on his jaw where Haymitch punched him.

"Well, that's the best I can do," Effie says with a sigh. "Just remember, you two, you want the audience to like you."

"And you don't think they will?" Peeta questions.

Effie seems a little flustered by him snapping at her. "Well, I'm sure they'll at least like Prim." she says, and then me and Peeta are out of her room, back in our normal clothes, and we go to lunch, finishing quickly, and then our session with Haymitch begins. For the longest time, he just stares at us.

"What?" I ask him finally, getting uncomfortable.

"I'm trying to figure out what to do with you," he says. "How we're going to present you. Are you going to be charming? Aloof? Fierce? So far, you're shining like a star. Cinna made you look unforgettable. You've got one of the top training score. People are intrigued, but no one knows who you are. The impression you make tomorrow will decide exactly what I can get you in terms of sponsors," says Haymitch, talking to me mostly.

"And what about me?" Peeta asks.

"How could anyone forget you?" Haymitch asks. "I've already got you're angle figured out. Likable. You have a sort of self-deprecating humor thing, the sponsors will love it." he says. "As for you," he turns back to me. "You're cute, but I don't know where to go with that."

"What, there's no cute, humble, sweet angle?" Peeta asks.

"I suppose we could try that, the whole innocence thing could get her viewed as weak though." Haymitch says. "And we can't have that." he tells us. "I suppose we could work with humble, just...talk about how grateful you are for everything."

"But I hate it here, and I'm being sent to my death!" I snap at him, finally understanding what Katniss has always meant about the Capitol being evil. I always knew what she meant, but I never really saw it from her point of view.

Haymitch sighs angrily. "Just...try."

After a little while, we do manage to get me working with humble, I mainly talk about the food, Cinna's clothes, the amazing colors, everything about the Capitol that I find somewhat likeable. Then, Haymitch moves onto Peeta, and I spend a little while laughing at everything Peeta says.

When all this is over, I go to my room and lay down on my bed, trying to relax. I end up changing into a nightgown that looks the color of fire, and my mind wanders to what Cinna will have me wear tomorrow. When the Avox girl comes in, I hardly even notice her until she crosses into my vision.

I don't say anything, because I have no command for her, I want her to say something to _me_, but I know it's impossible. She simply tidies up my room a bit, and then leaves. After I while, I fall asleep, and I don't dream about Rory. Actually I don't dream about anything, I just sleep.

When I wake up, my entire prep team is standing over me. Oh, yes, the interviews. This day is all Cinna's; I hope he can make me look good enough to match my angle.

The team works on me until late afternoon, turning my skin to glowing satin, stenciling patterns on my arms, painting flame designs on my twenty perfect nails. Then Venia goes to work on my hair, curling it even so slightly, and then letting it fall gently down my back. They erase my face with a layer of pale makeup and draw my features back out. Huge bright eyes, full red lips, lashes that throw off bits of light when I blink. Finally, they cover my entire body in a powder that makes me shimmer in gold dust.

Cinna enters shortly after with something I assume is my dress. "Close your eyes," he orders, and I comply.

I can feel the silken inside as they slip it down over my naked body, then the weight. It must be forty pounds. I clutch Octavia's hand as I blindly step into my shoes, glad to find they are flats, just as Effie had promised. There's some adjusting and fidgeting. Then silence.

"Can I open my eyes?" I ask.

"Yes," Cinna tells me. "Open them."

I flash my eyes open and am amazed by what I see, I didn't even gawk like this when I saw the Capitol, no, the girl in the mirror can not possibly be me; she is too beautiful. No. I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am as radiant as the sun. My dress is entirely covered in reflective precious gems, red and yellow and white with bits of blue that accent the tips of the flame design. The slightest movement gives the impression I am engulfed in tongues of fire.

"Cinna," I barely say, trying to string together some words. "Thank you so much." I turn around, and wrap my arms around my stylist, who has managed to become a good friend.

Cinna lightly laughs as he hugs me back. "Twirl for me." he orders, and I do it, smiling as my prep team lets our quiet applause.

The prep team is dismisses the team and has me walk around a little more, twirl a bit, and just make sure everything's going perfectly.

"So, are we ready for the interview then?" he asks me.

"Haymitch is having me be humble," I tell him. "Talk about the food, you're amazing clothes, all the beautiful things here, just...everything that's okay."

"Perfect, you can pull that off in your sleep." Cinna says with a smile. "Just don't sell my clothes too short."

I laugh and smile up at him. "Never, you have made me too amazing to ever be forgotten in my interview." I tell him. "We're probably just going to talk about you for the first minute anyway." I grin.

"Probably." he says.

Too soon it's time to go. The interviews take place on a stage constructed in front of the Training Center. Once I leave my room, it will be only minutes until I'm in front of the crowd, the cameras, all of Panem.

We meet up with the rest of the District 12 crowd at the elevator. Portia and her gang have been hard at work. Peeta looks striking in a black suit with flame accents. While we look well together, it's a relief not to be dressed identically. Haymitch and Effie are all fancied up for the occasion. I avoid Haymitch, but accept Effie's compliments. Effie can be tiresome and clueless, but she's not destructive like Haymitch.

Just as Peeta and me are about to go onto the stage and join the other tributes, Cinna grabs me by the arm.

"Good luck." he says with a big smile, I smile back, say thanks, and then follow Peeta onto the stage. We walk to our seats, I smile at the crowd, and Peeta avoids their gaze, though it's almost impossible.

Caesar Flickerman comes out, warms up the crowd with some jokes, and then, he gets right down to business. The girl from District 1 is obviously trying for sexy, and is doing is very well. The Districts seem to slip by pretty quickly, 2, 3 4, I stop for the girl with the fox-like-face's interview. She's sly and sneaky, I know to look out for her. I slightly recall some of the thing the girl from District 2 said, because she sounds like a killer, and so does her District partner, I'm worried more about them than the foxface girl.

The crippled boy from District 10 is so quiet, and I pity him greatly, because there is no way his make is past the bloodbath with that foot. I would try to make him an ally, but I don't think he would last long, and if the alliance were ever to end, I couldn't watch him die and know I could have done something to stop it.

Rue, who is dressed in a gossamer gown complete with wings, flutters her way to Caesar. A hush falls over the crowd at the sight of this magical wisp of a tribute. Caesar's very sweet with her, complimenting her seven in training, an excel- lent score for one so small. When he asks her what her greatest strength in the arena will be, she doesn't hesitate. "I'm very hard to catch," she says in a tremulous voice. "And if they can't catch me, they can't kill me. So don't count me out."

"I wouldn't in a million years," says Caesar encouragingly.

The boy from 11 known as Thresh manages to frighten me again, and I reach for Peeta's hand as he takes huge steps over to Caesar. His answers to questions are short. Yes. No. It's that simple.

"Primrose Everdeen!"

My name is called, and I hover to the stage, the crowd cheering and staring at my amazing dress. I shake Caesar's hand, and then take my seat.

"So, Primrose, can I call you Prim?" he asks, and I silently nod. "The Capitol must be a big change from District 12, what's impressed you the most since you got here?"

I pause, so many things, actually. "The hot chocolate." I say. "It's so good." I tell him with an attempt to be humble.

Caesar laughs, and some of the audience members join him. "I love that stuff, drink it by the bucketful." he grins, and then turns to the audience. "It doesn't show does it?" he places a hand on his stomach. They show reassurance and give him applause.

"Now Prim, when you came out in the opening ceremonies, my heart actually stopped," Caesar tells me. "What did you think of your costume?"

I pause, and then say, "It was amazing, Cinna made me look incredible, he's so amazing. I just couldn't believe it, I can't believe this either." I say, gesturing to my dress.

As the audience oohs and ahs, I see Cinna make the tiniest circular motion with his finger. But I know what he's saying. Twirl for me. I spin in a circle once and the reaction almost comes to fast.

"Oh, do that again!" Caesar says, and I do, spinning around and around and around, and then tumbling backwards into my seat. "Don't stop!"

"Sorry, Caesar, but I'm dizzy." I say, gripping the arms of my chair.

He chuckles. "Oh, all right." he sits back down himself. "So how about that training score? Amazing, a ten, I'm not sure I've ever _seen_ a twelve year old get such a high score."

"Thank you," I say with a blush on my cheeks. "I definitely didn't think I would get such a high score, I guess I have Haymitch to thank for his wonderful advice." I tell him, barely choking out the last part, but I remember how humble I _have_ to be.

The cameras find Haymitch, who gives a grin, but waves them away, pointing to me.

"Hm," Caesar says happily. "So, how's about we go back to the reaping? What was going on with you and the girl in the crowd?" he asks, and I don't want to explain it, but refusing would be me nowhere.

"Her name is Katniss, she's the most amazing, beautiful, skilled girl in the world." I say. "She was going to volunteer, to save me, but I couldn't let her. Mother needed her. Her best friend needed her. Everyone needed her. No one needed me, so I had to make her stay." I whisper, everything's so quiet after that.

"What did she say to you? After the reaping?" Caesar asks me.

"She told me to win." I tell him.

"What did you say?"

I bite my lip, and then say, "I promised to try."

The buzzer goes off.

"Sorry, we're out of time." Caesar says, and just as I'm about to walk back to my seat, he says in a more quiet voice, "Best of luck, Prim Everdeen, tribute from District 12."

I smile at him, and then walk over to my seat, passing Peeta on the way. He's looked better. He actually looks sort of panicked. Stage fright, I guess.

I'm still a little dizzy for the first part of Peeta's interview. He has the audience from the get-go, though; I can hear them laughing, shouting out. He plays up the baker's son thing, comparing the tributes to the breads from their districts. Then has a funny anecdote about the perils of the Capitol showers. "Tell me, do I still smell like roses?" he asks Caesar, and then there's a whole run where they take turns sniffing each other that brings down the house. I'm coming back into focus when Caesar asks him if he has a girlfriend back home.

Peeta hesitates, and then gives an unconvincing shake of his head.

"Handsome lad like you. There must be some special girl. Come on, what's her name?" asks Caesar.

Peeta frowns and lets out a sigh. "Well, there is this one girl. I've had a crush on her ever since I can remember. But I'm pretty sure she didn't know I was alive until the reaping."

"She have another fellow?" asks Caesar.

"I don't know, but a lot of boys like her," says Peeta.

"So, here's what you do. You win, you go home. She can't turn you down then, eh?" says Caesar encouragingly.

"I don't think it's going to work out. Winning...won't help in my case," says Peeta.

"Why ever not?" says Caesar, slightly confused.

Peeta blushes beet red and stammers out. "Because . . . be- cause . . . her little sister came here with me."


	9. Chapter 9: Let The Games Begin

PART II: "The Games"

For a moment, the cameras hold on Peeta's downcast eyes as what he says sinks in. Then I can see Katniss' face on the screen, a painted smile on her face, her eyes blank. It must have been a school picture. I suddenly know that if Peeta makes it to the final 8, Katniss is going to be interviewed.

"Oh, that is a piece of bad luck," says Caesar, and there's a real edge of pain in his voice. The crowd is murmuring in agreement, a few have even given agonized cries.

"It's not good," agrees Peeta.

"Well, I don't think any of us can blame you. It'd be hard not to fall for that young lady," says Caesar, admiring the screen. "I can imagine why you like her." he tells Peeta. "If she's anything like her sister, she must be quite the charmer."

I twitch a little. She isn't anything like me. She's too amazing to be like me. I don't know why but Peeta liking Katniss bothers me a little. Maybe it's because I always thought she would marry Gale, and when all us kids got older, we would run away into the woods. Peeta liking her could ruin that almost as much as me being reaped.

The crowd is cheering, though. Peeta has them eating out of the palm of his hand. Suddenly I get what he's trying to do, the crowd will sponsor him because they want him to make it home to Katniss. And, yet, I get the oddest feeling that; he's being honest...

Yeah right.

After the anthem, the tributes file back into the Training Center lobby and onto the elevators. I make sure to veer into a car that does not contain Peeta. The crowd slows our entourages of stylists and mentors and chaperones, so we have only each other for company. No one speaks. My elevator stops to deposit four tributes before I am alone and then find the doors opening on the twelfth floor. Peeta has only just stepped from his car when I step in front of him, glaring up at him.

"So the only reason you've even tried to be nice to me is because you like Katniss?" I ask, but it sounds more like a shout.

Peeta doesn't answer, he simply reaches out his hands, grabs me, and drops me off behind him, and then walks away. This enrages me, and I'm just about to charge after him when someone taps on my shoulder.

Haymitch. "What's wrong with you?" he asks. "Peeta has managed to find a great angle and you're not even happy for him."

I feel myself snapping again, and though I know it won't get me anywhere, and probably won't do any damage, I feel tempted to punch Haymitch in the face, but instead I just growl, "Shut up, Haymitch."

"Geez, I'm starting to think you don't like me anymore," he says mockingly. "And after all that great advice I gave-"

My fist swings at him. He barely falters, but he does look at me with shocked, wide eyes.

"Calm down, Prim," Cinna says, placing his hand on my shoulder, and I relax a little, but still glare at Haymitch. "So what if Peeta likes your sister?"

"He doesn't," I hiss. "It's an angle, I just don't want Katniss to get hurt because of these games, that's why I didn't let her volunteer."

"She won't," Cinna assures me. "If anything, she might be a little embarrassed."

I look up at Cinna. "Promise?" I know I sound like a five year old, but I need to know.

Cinna grins, and then nods. "Promise."

I sigh. "Okay, where did Peeta go?"

"Dinner." says Haymitch.

I look at him for a minute. "Sorry I tried to punch you." I say.

"No," Haymitch says as our party starts to walk in the direction Peeta did. "You've have a pretty nice swing, that will help you in the arena, if the time comes for you to use your fists." he tells me, I nod.

After dinner, we watch the replay in the sitting room. I seem weak and quiet, although the others assure me I am charming. Peeta actually is charming and then utterly winning as the boy in love. And there I am, angry and confused, made beautiful by Cinna's hands, desirable by Peeta's confession about Katniss, tragic by circumstance, and by all accounts, unforgettable.

I am panicked after the screen goes to black. Why? Because tomorrow I will be in the arena, fighting to the death. Maybe with Rue. I still want her as an ally, no matter what happens. After getting to know her a little over training and the interviews, I'm sure I can trust her.

Effie takes both of us by the hand and, with actual tears in her eyes, wishes us well. Thanks us for being the best tributes it has ever been her privilege to sponsor. And then, because it's Effie and she's apparently required by law to say some- thing awful, she adds "I wouldn't be at all surprised if I finally get promoted to a decent district next year!" After that she kisses us on the cheek and scurries out of the room.

Haymitch crosses his arms and looks us both over.

"What happened to you?" Peeta asks, looking at Haymitch's jaw, which actually has a red mark on it.

"Don't ask." Haymitch mutters.

"Any final words of advice?" I ask him, hoping that he might _actually_ have something worthwhile to day to us.

"When the gong sounds, get the hell out of there. You're neither of you up to the blood bath at the Cornucopia. Just clear out, put as much distance as you can between yourselves and the others, and find a source of water," he says. "Got it?"

"And after that?" I ask.

"Stay alive." Haymitch tells us. It's the same thing he said on the train, but this time, he's serious. He means it.

When I go back to my room, I find the covers to my bed drawn back, but no sign of the pretty redheaded Avox girl. I begin to wish I knew her name. I would bet it was pretty, someone like her _had_to have pretty name. I take a shower, scrubbing every bit of makeup off of me, or at least most of it. Once I get out and dry off, I put on a thick, lacy forest green nightgown, and can't help but think of Katniss, because it's her favorite color.

I try to fall asleep, but as the night goes on, I start to find it more and more impossible. But I try and make myself fall asleep, I'll need it. Who knows how much sleep I'll get in the either many or few days to come? After at least an hour of me just laying their passes, I sigh, get out of bed, and venture up to the roof.

The roof is not lit at night, but as soon as my bare feel reach its tiled surface I see his silhouette, black against the lights that shine endlessly in the Capitol. There's quite a commotion going on down in the streets, music and singing and car horns, none of which I could hear through the thick glass window panels in my room. I could slip away now, without him noticing me; he wouldn't hear me over the din, But the night air's so sweet, I can't bear returning to that stuffy cage of a room. And what difference does it make? Whether we speak or not?

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" asks Peeta, as he turns around to lock eyes with me.

"Shouldn't you?" I counter, and stand next to him, looking down at the Capitol. "What's that all about?" I ask, seeing the giant crowd of people below.

"A party, for us." Peeta explains.

I examine the people. "Are they wearing costumes?" I ask.

"Who could tell?" he asks, and we both laugh a little. "Couldn't sleep either?" asks Peeta after a little while.

"Nope." I say, and turn around, leaning backwards on the rail, not wanting to see the people anymore. "I just can't stop thinking about the arena, which is pointless, anyway." I tell him, shaking my head.

"You might as well try to prepare yourself." says Peeta.

"But I don't even know what I'm preparing myself for." I mutter with a bit of anger. "So you kissed me because you like Katniss, so you're obligated to care about me?" I ask him, recalling what I had forgotten because of what had happened over the past few days.

"I kissed you because if you don't survive," Peeta says. "I want you to have experienced everything you could have."

I chuckle lightly. "A sixteen year old boy never would have kissed me." I tell him with a smile, but he doesn't return it. "What's on you're mind?" I ask him.

"I don't know..." Peeta says, holding his head with his hands, and leaning his elbows on the rail, watching the Capitol people. "It's just tomorrow...everything changes." he says. "Tomorrow, there's a good chance I'm going to die, and..." he sighs. "I want to die as myself...does that make any sense?" he asks me.

I bite my lip. "You mean you don't want to kill anyone?"

"No." Peeta says. "When the time comes, I'll kill who I need to kill, I won't go down without a fight." he tells me. "It's just...I keep wishing I could think of a way to show the Capitol they don't own me. That-that I'm more than just a piece in their games."

I stare at him for a little while, trying to wrap my mind around what he means. "What about what Haymitch said, about staying alive?" I ask.

"I haven't forgotten." he mumbles. "But thanks for the reminder, sweetheart."

I roll my eyes at him with a quiet laugh, but then there's silence. "Good luck tomorrow." I say, and then go back in. I lay in bed, and after another hour or so, I fall asleep. More dreams of Rory this time.

I don't see Peeta in the morning. Cinna comes to me before dawn, gives me a simple shift to wear, and guides me to the roof. My final dressing and preparations will be alone in the catacombs under the arena itself. A hovercraft appears out of thin air, just like the one did in the woods the day I saw the redheaded Avox girl captured, and a ladder drops down. I place my hands and feet on the lower rungs and instantly it's as if I'm frozen. Some sort of current glues me to the ladder while I'm lifted safely inside.

I expect the ladder to release me then, but I'm still stuck when a woman in a white coat approaches me carrying a syringe. "This is just your tracker, Primrose. The stiller you are, the more efficiently I can place it," she says.

Still? I'm frozen in place. But that doesn't prevent me from feeling the sharp stab of pain as the needle inserts the metal tracking device deep under the skin on the inside of my forearm. Now the Gamemakers will always be able to trace my whereabouts in the arena. Wouldn't want to lose a tribute.

As soon as the tracker's in place, the ladder releases me. The woman disappears and Cinna is retrieved from the roof, an Avox boy comes in and directs us to a room where breakfast has been laid out. Despite the tension in my stomach, I eat as much as I can, although none of the delectable food makes any impression on me. I'm so nervous, I could be eating coal dust. The one thing that distracts me at all is the view from the windows as we sail over the city and then to the wilderness beyond. This is what birds see. Only they're free and safe. The very opposite of me.

The ride lasts about half an hour before the windows black out, suggesting that we're nearing the arena. The hovercraft lands and Cinna and I go back to the ladder, only this time it leads down into a tube underground, into the catacombs that lie beneath the arena. We follow instructions to my destination, a chamber for my preparation. In the Capitol, they call it the Launch Room. In the districts, it's referred to as the Stock- yard. The place animals go before slaughter.

Everything is brand-new, I will be the first and only tribute to use this Launch Room. The arenas are historic sites, pre- served after the Games. Popular destinations for Capitol residents to visit, to vacation. Go for a month, rewatch the Games, tour the catacombs, visit the sites where the deaths took place. You can even take part in reenactments. I hear the food is amazing.

I find my breakfast is having some problems staying down as I clean my teeth and shower. Cinna does my hair in the somewhat curly, down my back style that I've become used to, and then the clothes arrive. The same for every tribute.

Cinna has had no say in my outfit, does not even know what will be in the package, but he helps me dress in the undergarments, simple tawny pants, light green blouse, sturdy brown belt, and thin, hooded black jacket that falls to my knees, but I can tell if I was the right size it would stop at my thighs.

"The material in the jacket's designed to reflect body heat. Expect some cool nights," Cinna says.

The boots, worn over skintight socks, are better than I could have hoped for. Soft leather, Katniss has boots like those, she says they're good in the woods when you need to keep moving. These have a narrow flexible rubber sole with treads though. Good for running.

I think I'm finished when Cinna pulls the gold Mockingjay pin from his pocket. I had completely forgotten about it.

"Where did you that?" I ask him.

"Off that outfit you wore on the train," he tells me. "It's your District token, right?" I nod as he pins it onto my shirt. "It barely cleared the review board. Some thought the pin could be used as a weapon, giving you an unfair advantage. But eventually, they let it through," says Cinna. "They eliminated a ring from that District 1 girl, though. If you twisted the gemstone, a spike popped out. Poisoned one. She claimed she had no knowledge the ring transformed and there was no way to prove she did. But she lost her token. There, you're all set. Move around. Make sure everything feels comfortable."

I do as he says, moving around as much as I can, and assure him everything's fine.

"Great, now we just wait for the call." he offers me a glass of water, which I accept with pursed lips, taking small sips as much as I can. Everything is silent, I can feel myself shaking, and try to stop, but to know avail.

Cinna must sense my discomfort, because he asks, "Do you want to talk, Prim?"

I shake my head but after a moment hold out my hand to him. Cinna encloses it in both of his. And this is how we sit until a pleasant female voice announces it's time to prepare for launch.

Still clenching one of Cinna's hands, I walk over and stand on the circular metal plate. "Remember what Haymitch said. Run, find water. The rest will follow," he says. I nod. "And remember this. I'm not allowed to bet, but if I could, my money would be on you."

"Really?" I whisper.

"Really," says Cinna. He leans down and kisses me on the forehead. "Good luck, little girl on fire." And then a glass cylinder is lowering around me, breaking our handhold, taking him away from me. He taps his fingers under his chin. Oh, right, head high.

I lift my chin and stand as straight as I can. The cylinder begins to rise. For what seems like hours seconds, I'm in darkness and then I can feel the metal plate pushing me out of the cylinder, into the open air. For a moment, my eyes are dazzled by the bright sunlight and I'm conscious only of a strong wind with the hopeful smell of pine trees. My mind flashes to Katniss. The woods.

Then I hear the legendary announcer, Claudius Templesmith, as his voice booms all around me.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games begin!"


	10. Chapter 10: The Arena

Sixty seconds. That's how long we're required to stand on our metal circles before the sound of a gong releases us. Step off before the minute is up, and land mines blow your legs off. Sixty seconds to take in the ring of tributes all equidistant from the Cornucopia, a giant golden horn shaped like a cone with a curved tail, the mouth of which is at least twenty feet high, spilling over with the things that will give us life here in the arena. Food, containers of water, weapons, medicine, garments, fire starters. Strewn around the Cornucopia are other supplies, their value decreasing the farther they are from the horn. For instance, only a few steps from my feet lays a three- foot square of plastic. Certainly it could be of some use in a downpour. But there in the mouth, I can see a tent pack that would protect from almost any sort of weather. If I had the guts to go in and fight for it against the other twenty-three tributes. Which I have been instructed not to do.

We're on a flat, open stretch of ground. A plain of hard-packed dirt. Behind the tributes across from me, I can see nothing, indicating either a steep downward slope or even cliff. To my right lies a lake. To my left and back, spars piney woods. This is where Haymitch would want me to go. Immediately I hear his instructions in my head. "Just clear out, put as much distance as you can between yourselves and the others, and find a source of water."

But it's tempting, so tempting, when I see the bounty waiting there before me. And I know that if I don't get it, someone else will. That the Career Tributes who survive the bloodbath will divide up most of these life-sustaining spoils. Something catches my eye. There, near a small bag is a slingshot. A strong one. It's meant for me. I know it is.

But then again, I saw Rue at the training station with the slingshot. She's good. If she tries to go for it, we could end up fighting, and staying there too long would make us easy targets for the Careers. But I still have confidence we will be allies, so maybe I could let her take it, and we could find each other later. But, then again, if I don't have a weapon, I could die before I even get the chance to see her again. But I could always follow her into the trees, assuming that's where she'll go.

I look around for her, Peeta is three tributes to my left, Thresh is six to my right, and Rue is seven or so to my left. Peeta has a look of determination in his eyes. I hope mine hold the same fire as his, because it's intimidating. Suddenly, the gong rings out, and my hearts beating so fast that I think I might pass out. As quick as I can, I dash forward, picking up a loaf of bread, and then set my targets on a purple backpack a little farther away.

As I run, I look around, the Careers look occupied with picking off other people, I don't see Peeta, Thresh is far enough away from me to not be worried about, and Rue is close enough for me to try to talk her into an alliance. But I decide to not do it so soon; during the bloodbath is not the right time to buddy up with someone, unless you're a Career. So I grab the backpack, and look for anything else within easy reach. A weapon. I see a bloody knife in the dirt, and grab it, and then I run to the trees, not looking back.

After at least thirty minutes of running, I stop next to a tall tree to rest, my heart beating at a rapid rate, my chest rising and falling much faster than it should, and me on the ground, panting. I've never had a real problem with running, but when it's life or death, you get a little panicked. I can still hear a bit of screaming, telling me I'm not extremely far from the bloodbath, but I _need_ my rest, so I wait a few minutes, the knife gripped in my hand.

After a bit of time passes, and I feel good enough to move again, I climb to my feet, and then stop, wanting to know what's in the pack I grabbed. I zip it open and dump out its contents. A thin black sleeping bag that reflects body heat, probably with the same material as my jacket. A pack of crackers, a pack of dried beef strips, a bottle of iodine, a box of wooden matches, a small coil of wire, a pair of sunglasses, and a half-gallon plastic bottle with a cap for carrying water that's so dry it's actually making me thirsty. I remember what Haymitch said about finding water, and it suddenly becomes crucial.

Instead of moving, I look up at the tree I'm under, a willow, surrounded by clumps of other willows. I decide it to be a decent place to stay for a little while, so I put everything back in my pack and climb up as high as I dare. Not too far from the ground, but not too close to it either. I wait around to see if any tributes pass, being as silent as possible. Eventually, it gets a little dark, and I decide that I might need some rest, but am completely lost as to how to sleep in a tree.

Just as I'm about to pull of my sleeping bag, I hear the anthem that will tell me who's gone and who I may still have to fight. I crane my head to see the Capitol seal, and then, the show begins.

The first to appear is the girl from District 3. That means that the Career Tributes from 1 and 2 have all survived. No surprise there. Then the boy from 4. I didn't expect that one, usually all the Careers make it through the first day. The boy from District 5 . . . I guess the fox-faced girl made it. Both tributes from 6 and 7. The boy from 8. Both from 9. I've run through my fingers, only one more dead tribute to go. Is it Peeta, or Rue, or maybe Thresh? No, there's the girl from District 10. That's it. The Capitol seal is back with a final musical flourish. Then darkness and the sounds of the forest resume.

I sigh as I try to work out in my head who's left, taking away the eleven that I just saw on the screen. The Glimmer girl from 1, and her District partner, Marvel, I think. The pair from 2, and the boy from 3. The girl from 4. The fox-faced girl from 5. The girl from 8, the boy from 10. And then, Rue, Thresh, Peeta and me. Thirteen of us left.

I turn back to the work I was doing with my sleeping bag, I manage to arrange it in a comfortable fashion, and thankfully, I'm so small that it comes way over my head, in case I was ever seen. As I lay down, I use my belt to fasten me and the sleeping bag to the branch, just incase I move in my sleep, so that I don't fall. I tuck my backpack in with me because if I sleep through to the day purple will be more or less easy to spot. I close my eyes, trusting I'm concealed and that I will be safe. And then I hear it.

"Prim?"

It's a whisper, but I can hear it so clearly, that the caller must be close.

"Prim?"

It comes again, this time slightly louder. I know it can't be a Career, firstly because they wouldn't waste their time trying to find me, and second because the voice is young, pretty, and stained with innocence. It's Rue.


	11. Chapter 11: Little Allies

I unbuckle myself from the tree and get on my knees, peering down at Rue, who can only be a few yards away. Clearly she realizes how stupid she's being, calling out for me, in the dead of night, risking her life, just because she wants to find me. She's brave. I gather up my things, throw them in the pack, swing the bright purple thing onto my back, and then climb down from the tree.

Rue's dark eyes are the first things that I see clearly, then I see her wounds. Nothing major, a small gash on her arm, a cut on her cheek. I know how to heal those kinds of things, and I'm willing to bet anything she's smart enough to how to too.

"What happened?" I ask her as I dash to her side. "Who cut you?"

"District 2, she had knives, she said she would try to make it quick, because I wasn't worth her time," Rue explains. "But Thresh knocked her off of me, and I got away." she says.

"Did you get your slingshot?" I ask, and she nods.

"What's in your pack?"

Suddenly, as I open my backpack for her to see, we're unspoken allies, no need to agree to anything, we need each other, and we both know it. She looks at everything for about a minute taking it in.

"You got a lot of things." she says admiringly. "I only got the slingshot and gathered some edible plants," she tells me, putting her things in the pile with mine. "Plus a pair of socks." she puts them in too.

"Good, this should last us a while." I tell her. "But what we really need is water." I say, and she nods. "When you came this way, did you see any ponds or rivers?"

Rue shakes her head. "No, I saw you go this way, so I came the same way you did." she tells me. "No water along the way, should be head to the lake?"

I frown, and bite my lip. "No. I'm sure the Careers are there, we'll have to find somewhere else."

"Maybe we should just keep going forward." she tells me. "Or make camp and try in the morning?"

I nod. "I'm tired, you?"

She nods as well. "Where should we sleep?"

"I was in that tree," I point to the tree I was almost asleep in. "She should move forward a little and pick a new tree," I tell her, because I don't know why but I suddenly have a bad feeling about the area.

"Okay," Rue says with a smile, and I put all of our items in my pack, and we both walk past my tree, to another location. When we arrive, Rue surprises me by picking a tree, and gracefully swinging up onto it, jumping around until she finds a good branch. She reminds me of a bird. I follow her up and set up the sleeping bag.

She sleeps, I stay awake, holding the slingshot, ready to fight. And then the cannon sounds, making Rue jolt awake, and she's lucky she was belted in, or else she could be on the ground right now.

"Who do you think that was?" she asks me, and I shrug. "I hope it was a Career." she mumbles, and I nod.

"Okay, I think this place is safe." I say, lowering the slingshot and sliding in next to her in the sleeping bag, I before I know it, we're both asleep. More dreams of Rory. Our first time at the Hob. The time snatched a flower for me from the woods. When we first met. Every moment I'd ever want to remember. When I wake up, I try to hold onto them.

"Glad you're finally awake," Rue says when my eyes flutter open. "You missed a little bit."

"Like what?" I ask.

"Another cannon." she tells me. "C'mon," she says, putting everything into the pack. "We need to find water." she climbs down from the tree with great speed, and waits for me to follow. When I reach the ground, we start moving as fast as we can, looking for the water. We spend at least an hour walking before we stop for a minute, resting, eating a few of the berries Rue gathered, because the juice is the closest thing to a drink we have.

"So who's Rory?" Rue asks me quizzically after we finish our berries. "You kept on mumbling his name while you were asleep." she says.

"Oh..." I mumble, my cheeks feeling hot, and suddenly I'm praying Rory isn't watching me right now. "He's my best friend, back in 12, don't you have one?" I ask her.

Rue nods, but I can tell she's a bit sad at the memory. "His name is Amic, he would help me feed my little brothers and sisters back home." she says. "I miss them all so much."

I put a hand on her shoulder, and nod. I look up, possibly in the direction of a camera, and I hope Katniss is watching me, because I want her to know how much I miss her and how hard I'm willing to fight to get back to her. "We should get going." I say, and Rue agrees, and we're back to traveling forward.

**A/N: OOH! Look! An author's note! YAY! I just wanted to say sorry about how _short_ this chapter is...yeah...I'm getting lazy, the next chapter should be longer? 'Kay?**


	12. Chapter 12: Foxface

After stumbling around for about another few hours, me and Rue find a sparkling little pond, while I fish around for the stuff to purify it, she jumps in, waiting for me to fill up the bottle so we can have something to drink.

I giggle at her and fill up the bottle with water, clean it, and then offer her some. She takes a small gulp, and then gives it back to me. This goes on until the bottle is half full, and we're both re-hydrated. I put the bottle back, remove my jacket, and then jump into the water after her.

After a little bit of laughing, splashing each other, and the occasional drink, we calm down and try to clean ourselves a bit too, because we've both looked better. Rue cleans her wound, and I pull out the slingshot, just in case we need a weapon.

"So," Rue says after a while. "Would you mind telling me a little more about Rory?" she asks me.

I sigh and then mumble, "He's sweet, and kind, and bold, and the best friend you could ever ask to have." I then say, "But when I'm around him, I feel...confused."

Rue nods. "Sometimes I feel that way around Amic." she tells me. I nod too.

"So, when should we get moving again?" she asks me, I shrug. "We shouldn't stay too long, but we should stay around here, near the water." she says. We both agree on this. She lies on her back, whistling a pretty tune. Soon enough, that same soon engulfs the area around us, and for the first time, I notice the Mockingjays.

"Wow." I mumble, looking at all of them in astonishment. "So many." I say.

Rue laughs. "All around." she tells me. "You never saw any of them?" she asks me.

I roll my eyes. "It's only been like a day or so," I say, and she shrugs agreeingly.

"I guess they _are_ hard to see, if you're not looking for 'em." she says.

"Why would you look for the Mockingjays?" I ask her, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Rue smiles a sweet little smile. "They're my friends, back in 11 we would pass the notes, me and them would signal the end of the working day." she tells me, her smile never fading. "So of course, when I found out that the arena had trees everywhere, I set out to find my friends." she says. "And not just the Mockingjays."

So that it's then, we're friends. Good friends. Because we're going to die together. As a team. A smile at her, she smiles back.

"We can't stay here too long," I say climbing out of the water, soaking wet. "We should dry off and stay around this general area," I tell her.

"Alright, but uh..." Rue looks at both of our soaking wet bodies and clothes. "It might take a while."

"Let's air dry." I say, throwing my dry jacket inside the backpack, and then slinging it over my shoulders. "We should stick to the trees, since you know them so well."

Rue smiles weakly, a small blush on her face. "Thanks, and yes, that's probably our best and only strategy." she says, and just as we're about to continue walking she stops, and whispers to me, "I think I hear something." We both fall silent.

After a minute or so passes, we relax, Rue shrugs off her worries, and we're about to start again, when this time, we both hear it. Fairly loud. A snapping twigs, under a boot, obviously. Rue grabs for the knife, and take the slingshot, loading it with a considerably large rock.

Then she walks out. The girl...Foxface, I decide to call her. Her green eyes are wide with surprise, and she tucks away the dagger she's holding. Obviously she wasn't expecting the two twelve year olds. She brushes a long fire colored strand of hair out of her face.

"You?" I ask her, and then ask, "Who are you?"

She sighs, and then smiles weakly at us. "My name is Fay," she tells us. "I was hoping to avoid you, I have a twelve year old sister back home, couldn't dare to kill you."

Rue and me exchange glances.

"So you're not going to hurt us?" Rue asks, lowering her knife.

Fay smirks. "Long as you little fairies don't hurt me." she looks at me, and I lower my slingshot. "You two should be going now, I'm waiting for a Career to show up, set up a few traps here and there." she explains. "If you walk that way-" she points left, "-avoid the bushes."

Rue nods, and starts to walk to the left, because that is where we planned to go, but I don't move. "Prim?" she asks.

"I-I'm not leaving." I tell her fiercely. Why? Because this girl is smart. Sly. Elusive. And, above all, she promised not to hurt us, so I don't have to worry about her killing us in our sleep. I want her as an ally. "Not, not without you," I say to Fay.

Fay looks down at me again. "Really?" she asks. I can tell she sees a bit of her sister in me, I'm not sure where though. "Well then," she smiles warmly. "You've got yourself a deal." we shake hands, and Rue comes to my side.

"You're sure?" she asks me, her glassy eyes looking down Fay. Not fully trusting...yet.

"I'm sure." I say.

Rue looks down Fay one more time, analyzing her, before she nods. "Okay."

So we're allies. We walk around our little pond, staying close to it, watching Fay's traps, Rue holding our slingshot in the trees, while me and Fay cover the ground. I find out more and more about her. She's smart, kind, clever, and most of all, fast. Her reflexes are like nothing I've ever seen before, only topped by Katniss. Aside from that, she's silent, and sneaky, like a true fox. In this game, she would be the predator, preying on the weak...if she weren't allied with weak, that is.

Another day passes, and I only hear one cannon. That means three people have died since the bloodbath. That means there are only ten of us now. Two to go until the final eight. The interviews. I begin to think...I might make it that far, I have to amazing allies who watch my back. I smile to myself. Because if I do make it that far, Katniss will have something to remember.

But I also remember, just because two people are trying to keep me alive, it doesn't mean that seven people aren't bent on killing me. My stomach lurches as I try to imagine Fay, Rue, and me, separating because we're close to the end. I don't want that to happen. I would need them, I would miss them, I couldn't live without them. Literally. I couldn't.

**DEATH LIST: (JUST TO MAKE THINGS EASIER)**

**Glimmer~ Alive**

**Marvel~ Alive**

**Clove~ Alive**

**Cato~ Alive**

**District 3 Girl~ Dead**

**District 3 Boy~ Alive**

**District 4 Girl~ Dead**

**District 4 Boy~ Dead**

**Foxface (Fay)~ Alive**

**District 5 Boy~ Dead**

**District 6 Girl~ Dead**

**District 6 Boy~ Dead**

**District 7 Girl~ Dead**

**District 7 Boy~ Dead**

**District 8 Girl~ Dead**

**District 8 Boy~ Dead**

**District 9 Girl~ Dead**

**District 9 Boy~ Dead**

**District 10 Girl~ Dead**

**District 10 Boy~ Dead**

**Rue~ Alive**

**Thresh~ Alive**

**Primrose Everdeen~ Alive**

**Peeta Mellark~ Alive**

**So, what did you think of the chapter? I kept on thinking about how in the book Katniss thought about teaming up with Foxface, so I decided to make this happen. Like it? Hate it? Review about it? I mean, come on, the button's RIGHT THERE :)**


	13. Chapter 13: Headstrong

"So," I say, joining my two allies in the trees as we get ready to make "camp" for the night. "Do we have a plan?" I ask.

Fay frowns. "The Careers," she says. "We need to knock them out, that giant too, Thresh, I think, he-"

"No." Rue says as if on instinct. "We can't kill Thresh." she tells us, gritting her teeth. Fay nods knowingly.

"Just the Careers then," she says. "They could always take out Thresh before we have to," Fay offers, and Rue weakly nods. "The problem is, they have almost every single supply, and," she pauses, as if for dramatic effect. "I think that they're allied with Peeta Mellark."

Words don't expressed how shocked I am. Rue and Fay both have to dive for me and grab my arms so I don't fall out of the tree. I'm stammering, mumbling, whispering, the occasional whimper every now and then too.

"Peeta?" I ask in shock after I recompose myself. "_District__12_, Peeta?" I ask, Fay nods.

"What other Peeta?" she asks, slight sarcasm in her voice.

"Prim, it's okay." Rue says, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Once we get down to final eight, their _alliance_-" she puts air quotes on the word "alliance", "-will be over."

"They'll kill him." I say weakly, shaking my head. "He's going to die."

Fay shakes her head in usion with me. "You don't know that," she says. "Peeta will be fine, okay?"

I sigh. "No, because you don't know _that_." I say. "He's doomed, and I'm sure he trusts them." I tell them. "W-we have to help him." I say, climbing to my feet, and I'm about to climb down from the tree when Fay grabs my arm.

"We can't," she says, pulling me back up with ease. "Getting in the way of the Careers without a plan is a suicide mission." she tells me.

I glare at nothing in particular. "Then let's make a plan!" I almost shout. "We can't just let him die."

Fay shakes her head. "We have to."

I sigh and throw a punch at the branch next to ours, then slump angrily on the branch. "But, how can we just sit around knowing that we could stop someone's death from happening?" I ask.

"These are the Hunger Games." Fay tells us, a frown painted on her face. "It's not about stopping deaths, it's about causing them." she says. "If Peeta is so smart, he'll get away from them before it even comes down to his end."

I sigh again and nod. "I hope you're right."

After that, Fay helps us both into the sleeping bag, buckles us in, and keeps all the weapons at her side, staring into the night.

"Fay," I whisper into the blackness. "There's still plenty of room for you." I say, patting the inside of the sleeping bag.

Fay hesitates, obviously wanting to protect us, but, eventually, she gives in and slides in the sleeping bag next to us. I'm pretty sure Rue is out cold, but I can't really tell in the darkness.

"Any plans yet?" I ask her.

Silence. I fall asleep.

When I wake up, it's Rue who rouses me, leaning over me, unbuckling me, and telling me that we have to get moving. Fay has already packed up, and as I step out of the sleeping bag, she finishes, and within a matter of minutes we're on our feet, heading back to our little pond. I'm a little groggy, but we all are, so it's not a problem.

"Why do we need the water so much?" I ask. "We just had some not even a day ago." I tell them.

"Because, we need to fill up on it." Fay says. "We're traveling a while away from here, I'll try to leave a trail to come back to it, but, there's no guarantees we'll be able to easily get water for a while."

"Where are we going?" I ask her, for a while, there's no reply.

Eventually she says, "We're going to the lake, to take on the Careers."

"What?" I ask, shocked. "They'll kill us!" I shout.

Fay rolls her eyes. "We know that, that's why we're not fighting them head on."

I'm about to ask her to explain, when a cannon goes off, taking all of us by surprise.

"What the-?"

Rue looks around in fear, as if the next cannon will belong to her. "Who do you think that was?" she asks, shaking with anticipation.

"I-I don't know." Fay says, edging towards her dagger, wanting to keep us, and herself, safe. We all know what this means, it's the final nine; soon enough, there will be no alliance anymore.

I hand Rue the slingshot, and grip the knife. Rue looks at me like I'm crazy.

"No, you have to take it, you said that the slingshot is why they gave you the ten!" she shouts, shoving it into my hands.

"No, Rue," I say. "You need the slingshot, I can throw a knife okay, but all you have is the slingshot, so take it." I say, handing it back to her. She doesn't object this time.

Fay points forward. "There," she says, and we all spot the pond. We run to it, and barely stop in time to see the Glimmer girl and her District partner, Marvel, enjoying themselves in our little pool. We all draw our weapons, they don't even see us.

Rue grabs a rock and puts it in her slingshot, waiting for one us to make the first move. I hold my knife high in the air, ready to throw it. I look to Fay for guidance. She grips her dagger, and before I can even look at it clearly, it slices through the air, into Marvel's neck.

"Marvel!" Glimmer screams in shock, splashing water at his wound. Her cries are stopped short as the huge rock from the slingshot slams into her head. But no cannon. They're both still alive, suffering, endless pain. I throw my knife, it drills into Marvel's chest. His cannon booms through the sky. Glimmer's still clutching her head in pain, thrashing around in the water, but alive, nonetheless.

Fay, Rue, and me dash over to their supplies looking for another weapon to end her suffering. I find a spear, and it's Rue who stabs it through her heart, a single tear falling down her cheek. She was the only one who attacked Glimmer. She was Glimmer's killer. Glimmer's cannon sounds.

The final seven, it happened so fast, I didn't even see it. I glance at Rue and Fay, they return my stares.

"We should device their weapons evenly among us," I say, they both nod. We all toss our weapons along with theirs into a pile and divide them up. In the end, Rue has the slingshot and the knife. Fay has her dagger and the spear. And I have a bow complete with quite a few arrows, and another knife. "So, what now?" I ask. More glances.

"We take on the Careers, just like we said." Fay says, then dumps out the rest of the District 1 Tribute's supplies and stuffs them in our bag. "I think we've proved we can handle it." she says.

I sling the bow over my shoulder and put the knife on my belt before staring at her with wide eyes. "These two weren't ready-"

"And neither will they." Fay says, cutting me off. "It's probably just District 2, and I wouldn't be surprised if Peeta's already gone, we can do it." she says, determination in her voice, a blazing fire in her eyes.

"Fay, I don't want to do this." I say, stepping away from her.

"Me neither." Rue says, joining me. "It's suicide." she grumbles, the same fire in her eyes as Fay's.

Fay looks shocked that we wouldn't simply agree with her. She composes herself quickly. "Okay then," she says, looking from me to Rue. She gives us the supplies Rue and me had already had, and she kept her own as well. We made her keep the backpack, and then we departed, me and Rue heading towards the threes, Fay heading towards the lake.

It wasn't even sun down before we heard her screams of pain, and heard the cannon boom.

**ALIVE LIST (EVEN MORE EASY):**

**Clove**

**Cato**

**Rue**

**Thresh**

**Primrose Everdeen**

**Peeta Mellark**

**DEATH LIST:**

**Glimmer ~ Killed by Rue**

**Marvel ~ Killed by Fay and Prim**

**District 3 Girl ~ Bloodbath**

**District 3 Boy ~ Unknown Death**

**District 4 Girl ~Unknown Death**

**District 4 Boy ~ Bloodbath**

**Foxface (Fay) ~ Killed by Cato and Clove**

**District 5 Boy ~ Bloodbath**

**District 6 Girl ~ Bloodbath**

**District 6 Boy ~ Bloodbath**

**District 7 Girl ~ Bloodbath**

**District 7 Boy ~ Bloodbath**

**District 8 Girl ~ Unknown Death**

**District 8 Boy ~ Bloodbath**

**District 9 Girl ~ Bloodbath**

**District 9 Boy ~ Unknown Death**

**District 10 Girl ~ Bloodbath**

**District 10 Boy ~ Unknown Death**

**So what'd you think of this, sorry I killed off "Fay" in case you were starting to like her, BUT, we all knew it had to be done, so I did it off screen, same as the berries, but, uh...more violent. So what are you guys thinking, final six, exciting, huh? So, review until I have the next chapter up (should be VERY soon), button's right there, won't kill ya' :D**


	14. Chapter 14: Goodbye, Rue

"What do you see?" I whisper to Rue as she peers out of the trees for the tenth time of the day.

"Nothing," she says. "They're still gone." she sits next to me, hugging her knees to her chest.

We had both been depressed even since we heard Fay's cannon. Who would have thought the ever clever, smart, elusive Fay would be so headstrong as the literally throw herself at the Careers. Those same Careers were the ones we were spying on right now.

We have made our new camp right around the lake, right where the Careers would never think we would hide, ride under their noses...or rather, above, their noses. All that's left of us is Cato and Clove, Thresh, Peeta, and me and Rue. Katniss would be proud of me for making it this far. Onto our plan, me and Rue plan to throw every weapon we have at the Careers, killing them, and then waiting for Peeta and Thresh to hopefully take each other out, and then...Rue probably drives her knife into my heart. I won't stop her.

Rue looks out of the trees again. "Where could they be?" she asks angrily, tapping her nails against the tree's sturdy bark. "I don't think they'll even come back." she grumbled.

"Yes, they will." I say. "This is their camp, all of their supplies are here. They'll be back. Unless they've turned on each other already, and they're just finishing up the job."

Rue nods. "Maybe."

As if on cue, Clove comes back to the camp site, holding her head with one hand, and her bloody throwing knives with the other. When she pulls her hand away, it's thickly red. When she turns around, I see the knife wounds in her back. Cato literally tried to stab her in the back. "Good riddance," Clove said to herself, looking around for bandages in her giant pyramid of supplies. And yet, if she did get Cato, no cannon. "Let him suffer," she mumbles to herself again, answering my questions. "That wound in his neck with kill him off soon enough."

Rue and me exchange glances with each other. Clove is so close to snapping, even with my inexperience with the weapon, I could probably easily send an arrow through her right now. Rue and me could take the Career supplies, and then wait and see if Cato just dies on his own, and if Peeta or Thresh come along, but then what? Because of all my doubt, I don't shoot.

Suddenly, a cannon rips through the air. All of us know it's Cato's, and Clove lets out a happy cheer as she wraps bandages around her tattered body, trying to put back together a broken, stitch-less doll that will fall apart no matter what you do. I can tell because after looking harder, I can see that her arm looks so bent it may be broken, and her leg is almost unattached from her knee. Cato put up a hell of a fight.

I shift uncomfortably at the thought of such a bloody, gruesome battle. A small branch snaps, and Clove whips her head in our direction. Not a second passes before her throwing knife is slicing through the air, and lodging itself inside Rue's arm. She loses her balance, and falls out of the tree.

She's lucky we weren't up too high, or she could be dead, instead, she's a little shaken, as she stumbles to her feet, limping away from Clove. It hits me, she hurt her ankle. Blood flows quickly out of her arm wound, and Clove advances quickly.

"So," Clove says, easily cornering her. "You survived past the bloodbath then?" she asks. "I never saw your face in the sky, but I just assumed you were on the verge of death anyway." she says. "You don't look so good." she reaches for another knife.

Rue barely growls in a hoarse voice, "And you look any better?"

Clove stops in her tracks, hisses out every nasty curse word she can think of, and before Rue can react, jams a knife into her stomach. Rue collapses to the ground, and I grab for my bow, slinging an arrow into it. Clove falls to the ground shortly after, still holding the arrow in her throat. Her cannon sounds, and I climb down from the tree, grabbing my supplies, running to Rue.

"Rue!" I shout, kneeling beside her, staring at the knife in her stomach. "Rue!" I say shaking her, because she hasn't said anything.

"I'm...I'm still here." she mumbles, her hands strung on top of her chest, just above the little knife that could be the end of her. "You-you kill her?" she asks me, she's so off she didn't hear the cannon.

"She's dead." I say, taking one of Rue's hands. Rue's slipping again. "Stay with me!" I shout, squeezing her hand.

"Prim you have to win now." she says, gripping my hand lightly.

"I-I will, for the both of us now." I say, I tear escaping my eyes, and landing just on top of Rue's stomach.

Rue looks up at me weakly, her eyes full of tears, and makes her final request, "Sing."

I take in breath, trying to recall any song that comes to mind. It comes at quick as possible.

"Deep in the meadow, under the willow. A bed of grass, a soft green pillow. Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes. And when they open, the sun will rise.  
>Here it's safe, and here it's warm. Here the daisies guard you from every harm. Here your dreams are sweet, and tomorrow brings them true Here is the place where I love you.<br>Deep in the meadow, hidden far away. A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray. Forget your woes and let your troubles lay. And when again it's morning, they'll wash away  
>Here it's safe, and here it's warm. Here the daisies guard you from every harm<br>Here your dreams are sweet, and tomorrow brings them true. Here is the place where I love you.  
>Here is the place where I love you<em>.<em>"

By the time the song is over, Rue's grip is so weak, I can almost feel her fading away. When her hand drops, and the cannon sounds in the sky, I wipe my tears and stare at her, trying to think of some way to keep her with me. I see a patch of rues just next to her, perfect. I take as many of them as I can, burying her in them, braiding them into her hair, covering her wound with them. When I'm done, it almost looks like she's sleeping. But I know better.

"Goodbye, Rue," I barely whisper, tears streaming down my cheeks, then I walk away, sit by the pyramid of supplies, putting down my own and wait for the hovercraft to come and take her. When it does, I break down crying, knowing my only friend and ally left is gone, and that now, I have no chance.

**ALIVE****LIST:**

**Thresh**

**Primrose****Everdeen**

**Peeta****Mellark**

**Ok****then,****the****final****three,****wow,****I****killed****a****lot****of****people****in****only****like...what,****four****chapters?****How****many****days****was****that?****Eh,****whatever.****So,****what****shall****Prim****do****now****that****it****'****s****only****her****against****the****amazingly****huge****Thresh,****and****Peeta,****who****'****s...not****so****huge.****You****shall****have****to****wait****and****see!****Review****while****your****at****it****though,****next****chapter****should****be****up****tomorrow.****Later,****readers****:3**


	15. Chapter 15: The Mutts

**Part III: The Victor**

Time passes pretty quickly, though I don't have much record of time. I live off of the supplies at the lake, every now and then take a nap in tree, and keep my weapons at close draw, in case Thresh or Peeta were to make an appearance. I'm sure they've worked out it's just me and them now, so why haven't they made a move?

No cannons go off, no faces appear in the sky at night. If Thresh and Peeta aren't coming for me, I don't understand why the Gamemakers haven't tried to bring us together for the final, bloody, horrifying battle. That's what they want, and yet, they don't make it happen.

Every time I see the sun rise, I draw a line in the dirt, and it's close enough to around nine or ten lines when I realize the Gamemakers _have_ to do something to bring us together, soon. So I sit around, waiting, almost every weapon at my disposal, expecting the twist, the pain, the end. But, it doesn't come, not yet, anyway.

I play with a stick, drawing pictures in the dirt. My favorite has to be the elaborate one of Rue how she looked before the hovercraft took her away, flowers all over her. Then I hear it. Mockingjays, letting out cries of alarm. I'm on my feet with my slingshot and Clove's throwing knives before anything else can happen. But then it _does_ happen.

Peeta breaks through the clearing, seemingly not noticing me, running as fast as he can. I don't get it, but I don't take any risks, climbing up the closet tree I can find. Thresh is quick to follow, running even faster than Peeta, panting, holding his chest as he scrambles to get to tree, or anywhere.

Mutts. They follow Thresh quickly out, making him and all the Mockingjays let out another shocked yell. They look like huge wolves, and yet they land on their hind legs, looking easily like humans if they tried. I'm sure this isn't the only odd thing about them.

Thresh runs towards the tree I'm in clawing at it, trying to climb, but his size doesn't allow it. The Mutts begin to circle the tree, snarling, growling. It's only seconds before they lunge at Thresh, who lets out a cry of pain as one of them sinks their teeth into his shoulder, tearing off some of the flesh.

I scream at first as Thresh goes down and they try to corner him, then I compose myself and toss a spear into the mob, one of the Mutts falls. I shoot and arrow, and then another, two more. But there are still too many of them for Thresh to fight. Why am I trying to help a man who I want to kill? I don't want to see him die. He wanted to help Rue; I want to return the favor. Simple as that.

But no matter how many throwing knives I throw and arrows I shoot, Thresh is still getting torn apart. I'm about to string up another arrow when something hits me. The Mutts. The first one I recognize is Glimmer, her blonde hair turned to fur, her green eyes narrowed, her teeth barred, and her diamond District 1 collar. I scream again. One by one they all get in my head, matching that of the Tribute for whom they are. The last one I see is Rue, the smallest of the pack, her big brown eyes full of fire, her dark, glossy fur, and District 11 woven in straw on her collar. Too many tears escape my eyes.

I realize I've already killed Fay, her red-orange fur stained with blood, a throwing knife sticking out of her throat. I muffle a sob, and try to hold back more of my tears. I look towards the direction Peeta ran, he's sitting up in a tree as well, but he's closer to the ground, the Mutts _could_ actually get him. Then what? I go home.

The Mutts are ripping Thresh apart, and I eventually find myself looking away so I don't have to watch. I want to believe they'll take out both Thresh and Peeta, but I know what the Gamemakers want. They want to watch the final battle between the one District. They want to watch Peeta kill me.

Thresh lets out a strangled cry, his blood is everywhere, all over him, all over the Mutts. Rue bits him in his shredded back, blood stains her sharp little teeth. I flinch, tears streaming down my cheeks. So sweet, and now, so deadly. The rest of them take turns biting him, clawing at him, tearing him to pieces. I hear a violent rip when one of them takes a run at his neck. Yet no cannon, I know he must be suffering so much.

I think about killing him myself, just to let his pain cease, but I know I could never live with myself, so I don't. Thresh's painful cries are almost silent now as he tries to pull them up out of his tattered throat. I look to Peeta again, he looks back at me. Just one look tells me...he won't be killing me today.

Thresh finally manages to pull up another scream of pain as the Mutts start to attack his face. Eventually I find myself stringing another arrow, aiming at Thresh, I don't want to kill him...but I can't just listen to him scream and suffer. The arrow flies away from me, and lodges itself in Thresh's heart. A good shot. The cannon booms. He's gone.

On cue, a hole opens in the ground and the Mutts run into it, the ground closing above them when they do, and then the hovercraft comes, takes Thresh, and the Mockingjays continue their songs like nothing even happened.

I look for Peeta again, he's not in his tree. I grab my slingshot and not having any rocks to put in it, I load it with a throwing knife, looking in every direction for my missing opponent. But he's nowhere to be found.

When I do see him, he's eating some of the food in my supply pyramid, as if he thinks there's not someone out to kill him at the moment. He stuffs himself greedily, and I can tell, he hasn't eaten in a long time. He almost drowns himself in the bottled water, drinking as much as he can. Then he looks to my tree, where I'm already making my way down, my slingshot still at hand. He's unarmed. It will be easy.

Instead of running, or taking cover, Peeta walks calmly up to me.

"Hey, Prim."

It's the first thing he's said to me since I last saw him on the roof, before the Games began, before we had to kill each other to keep ourselves alive. It's the stupidest thing he could possibly say, because now I have to kill him. Or if he can get one of my weapons, he has to kill me. Either way, within the next ten minutes, one of us will be dead. Even under the circumstances, I find myself muttering, "Hi, Peeta," Why? I have no idea. Maybe it's because it's what he wants, and I'm about to kill him, so I'll give him what he wants, one last time.

"So, how did _you_ manage to kill of the Careers?" he asks.

I say honestly, "Me, District 5, and Rue took out District 1, Clove took out Cato, I took out Clove."

"Oh." he says, surprised. "So, do you plan on making it quick, or giving the Capitol a show?"

Is he playing Games? Trying to put of his death? I don't know anymore. I don't want to do it anymore. I drop my slingshot. "I don't plan on doing it at all." I say.

Peeta looks at me questioningly. "Why? You'll get to go home, and be with Katniss, one of the only- if not the only, -twelve year olds to win the Games. You're life will be so much better and-"

"Because you love her."

I know it's not a strategy anymore, I know it because of the hopelessness in his eyes. The gray feeling about him. The feeling of knowing you're going to lose someone you love, or lose yourself and never see that love, I guess.

Peeta nods. "So do you. She's your sister."

He's right. I have to kill him. To get back to Katniss. To win the Games. To be the victor.

"Peeta...I can't." I say, shaking my head. "Just...here," I hand him my slingshot. "Shoot me, then throw me in the lake or something, then go home, and be with Katniss." I order. The only thing he throes into the lake is my slingshot.

"I'm not killing you. You're not killing me." Peeta says. "What's going to happen then?"

One cue, the Mutts come back up.


	16. Chapter 16: Nightlock

I scream as the Mutts run at both me and Peeta, and now I realize that the Capitol has grown tired of our stalling, and they just want to see who will last the longest against the former Tributes.

Rue tackles me, and her slobber falls onto my face. She growls at me.

"Rue!" I shout. "Stop!" I shove her off of me, using every ounce of my strength. I run for another tree. Any tree. I look over my shoulder, big mistake. Rue's running as fast as she can to advance on me, and the bloody scene I see involving Peeta slows me down enough for Rue to dash in front of me, leaving Marvel to dash behind me. I'm right in between them. They'll have me in seconds.

I'm really wishing that Peeta didn't throw my slingshot in the lake, but it's too late for that now. We're _both_ doomed, even if we both manage to stay alive, we'll be in no condition to kill ourselves or each other, we'd eventually just die from lack of blood or food or water, or...something.

Marvel goes first, maybe it's some kind of flashback playing in his head about how I helped kill him that prompts this, or maybe he just goes for it, I'm not sure. His mouth opens and his sharp teeth sink into my leg, tearing off some flesh before he trots a few feet away to chew on it. Rue does nothing, but stay a few feet away and growl. She expects me to hurt her. She acts like I already did. That's because I did hurt her. I let her die, all I did was sing, I could have helped her. I help mother save people, but the hopelessness of the situation just seemed to be too much for me, and I didn't even try to save her. All I did was sing.

I look at my leg and feel myself grow a shade or two whiter, because a small chunk of it is missing, and my blood is spraying everywhere. I look to Peeta again, he's doing much worse than me. The Mutts, all of them that are still alive besides Rue and Marvel, are attacking him, he'll be dead in minutes.

I look back at Rue, she's still unmoving, but Marvel's almost done with the flesh from my leg, and I fear he'll be coming back for more in a matter of seconds. I run for the trees. Bad move. At my sudden movement, Marvel surges to life and pins me to the ground, lying on top of my back, trying to claw it to shreds. Rue growls, but she doesn't attack. Suddenly, Marvel's weight is off of me. When I look, Rue is fighting with him, snapping her jaw, clawing at him, defending me. But...why? She's a Mutt now, she has no emotion, just pain. Does she remember? Does he? I don't try to find out, I run for the closet tree to me, climb it, and watch the scene unfold.

It doesn't take Rue long to rip open Marvel's chest, and he dies as quick as it happens. Rue then joins the rest of the pack as they claw Peeta apart. Every camera must be on Peeta right now, the audience must be glued to their seats, watching as his end comes closer and closer. Eventually, Peeta is just a torn up piece of bloody meat. The hole reappears, and the Mutts go down into it. Rue looks at me on last time before she disappears, I can almost see the care in her eyes, but then she's gone.

I cautiously walk back down from my tree, I remove my jacket, and tear a piece off, wrapping it around my leg. Then, I approach Peeta, who must be close to death from all his blood loss. I see parts of him that have been reduced to nothing but bone, I see parts of him where limbs are no longer attached to his body, and I see parts of him that have been reduced to bloody shreds of flesh. He's going to die. There's no doubt anymore. I'm winning the seventy fourth Hunger Games.

I sit next to Peeta, he attempts to look at me, and what are the remains of his mouth curve upward into a smile.

"You're right," I say, but it hardly comes out as a whisper. "You're more than just a piece in their games," I tell him, tears streaming down my face. I get up, and walk over to a bush I just barely recognize. Nightlock berries are all over it. Deadly. Lethal. Just what I need. I take a handful of them and return to Peeta. "Here," I say to him, putting two of them in the remains of his hand. "They'll end it quick."

His smiling mouth opens, he coughs up some blood, and then eats the berries. More blood comes out of his mouth. He barely let's out a whisper, "Thank you," and then he's gone. His cannon sounds in the sky.

I walk a long distance away from the body, making sure that I'm far enough away that the hovercraft will take him. When it does, I fall to the ground, and break down, crying.

I'm crying harder than I think I ever have. It wasn't supposed to end like this. Peeta was supposed to kill me, and then go home, and be with Katniss. Just like I had planned. Just like the Capitol had planned. And what had happened with Rue? She saved my life. But Mutts aren't supposed to think, they're supposed to kill.

I wander for as long as I can, contemplating why I'm still alive. Marvel should have killed me. Peeta should have been repaired to the best of the Capitol's ability, and then whatever Peeta had become should have gone home to be with Katniss. It was supposed to happen. It would be better for _everyone_ if I was dead. But I'm alive. And everything is wrong. Me living wasn't part of my plan.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victor of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Primrose Everdeen! I give you, the tribute from District 12!" Claudius Templesmith declares for all to hear.

No. Peeta was right. We're all more than just a piece in their games. All of us. Peeta knew that before the games even started, I learned that just seconds ago. Just as another hovercraft comes to take me, a ghost of a smirk plays on my lips. They don't own me. They don't own anyone. I take two of the nightlock, still held tightly in my hand.

I stuff them in my mouth.


	17. Chapter 17: Victor

It's only a matter of seconds before Capitol medics rush out of the hovercraft. They pin me down, hold my throat, cup my mouth. The berries fly out my mouth. I'm alive. I don't _want_ to be alive. Can't they see that? No. They can't. Some random woman from the Capitol places me on a ladder that falls down from the hovercraft. The electric current freezes me in place, and I'm forced to stay in my position.

The ride is rough, and when me and the Capitol people get in and the door closes behind us, I'm relieved when the ladder releases me. I climb to my feet, screaming, trying to find something to end myself with. The berries were supposed to kill me, they didn't. The Capitol took that away, too. Tears are flying everywhere as I continue screaming.

Effie rushes out coming to me. For once I think someone will be on my side. She'll try to help me. Won't she? No, the needle sinks into my arm. She's just here to sedate me. How disappointing.

When I wake up, I'm in some sort of hospital room that seems to glow a soft yellow, and doesn't comfort me in any way. I'm not dead. I can think of only one pro to this. I get to go home to Katniss and Rory. _Rory_.

I haven't even thought about him since I ran into Fay, so much has happened, he slipped my mind. I remember how much I miss him, how happy I am that I'll be able to see him again. I start to think that maybe it's a good thing I survived the seventy fourth Hunger Games...even though I didn't want to.

My body is under a pale white blanket, and I wear a matching white simple dress that makes me feel like a patient. I pull my leg out and look at it. It looks perfect...too perfect. A chunk of it should be missing, where did they get a chunk of leg to fix it? I shrug it off, it's the Capitol, they can do anything.

Haymitch enters and sits down in a chair next to my bed. "Hey, sweetheart. How you feeling?"

I glare at him. "What do you think?" I brush a hand through my hair only to find it's silky and finely groomed, with a slight curl about it. Cinna's work, no doubt. "I don't want to do it." I say, and he knows instantly I'm talking about the final show that covers my time in the arena. It's required. But they took everything. I plan to take this.

"You have to," he says with a roll of his eyes. "And you know you have to."

"I don't care, Haymitch!" I shout at him. "I'm not just gonna sit back and watch them all die again!"

Haymitch pauses for a moment, letting this information sink in as if it was completely new to him. "You're going to have to." he says, offering me a hand. I simply stare at it. "Just get up." he says, I comply to this. Haymitch, as odd as it seems, it one of my only friends left. The Games have taken most of them.

Haymitch leads me out of the room and into a larger chamber at the end of the hall. Inside of it waits Effie and Cinna, who are smiling as wide as ever.

"Prim!" Effie cries in happiness, and lifts me off the ground, then spins me in a hug that manages to knock the breath out of me. "Oh, you look good, did Cinna do your hair?"

I look towards Cinna, he smirks. "Yes."

"Good job, sweetheart." Haymitch says from behind me. I surprise everyone, including myself, when I spin around and launch myself into his arms. Haymitch only releases me when I release him.

I run towards Cinna next. He smiles. "Cinna," I say happily, and then hug him. He says nothing, maybe there are too many things going through his head, or maybe there's just nothing to say. I don't care, I just hug him. I blush as I back up from him, feeling a bit shyer.

"Cinna, why don't you go and get her ready?" Haymitch asks, Cinna nods, takes my hand, and leads me out of the room.

He takes me down a little to an elevator, it leads to the lobby of the Training Center. The hospital must be far underground...even more far than the gymnasium where the Tributes practiced with weapons. The Tributes. All of them manage to work their way back into my head, and by the time I reach Peeta, I think I'm at risk of crying again.

Cinna hands me off to my prep team and the four of them take me to the dining room, probably thinking I deserve a decent meal for a change. The Career food was okay, but the Capitol's food is a luxury they _never_give you in the Games. I look forward to it.

The food comes in, roast beef, peas, and soft rolls, along with a steaming cup of hot chocolate, just for me. I think back to the interview, think about how much I said I loved it. This is probably another form of prize. I ask for seconds after I'm done, but all I get is a roll from Octavia, and Flavius and Venia don't look too thrilled about it.

Cinna takes me back to my room when the meal is over, and my prep team gets me ready while he vanishes to get my dress.

"Oh, they did a full body polish on you," says Flavius enviously. "Not a flaw left on your skin."

I look at my naked body in the mirror. I've always been rather thin, small, mostly from lack of food, sometimes Katniss just couldn't catch enough game, it was those nights when I would go to bed with an only partly full stomach. But as I look at my reflection, I realize that I'm the human equivalent of a toothpick.

They put me in the shower, taking care of the settings. When I come out, they work on putting some fancy designs on my nails, putting just a little makeup on my face, and improving Cinna's amazing work on my hair as much as they can.

Cinna comes in holding a simple yellow-looking dress.

I giggle. "Finally given up on the whole 'little girl on fire' thing?" I ask him.

Cinna rolls his eyes. "You tell me." he says, and then puts the dress on me without struggle. "Sorry it might be a little loose, it was done with your shape before you went into arena, plus some modifications to make it a little smaller, but...not much."

Venia gives me pair of golden, simple sandals, which I gladly slide into. Cinna puts a simple headband into my hair to keep it out my face, and then they all step aside so I can look into the mirror.

I was wrong. I'm still the little girl on fire. The sheer fabric softly glows. Even the slight movement in the air sends a ripple up my body. By comparison, the chariot costume seems garish, the interview dress too contrived. In this dress, I give the illusion of wearing candlelight.

"What do you think?"

I look at Cinna, a smile plastered on my face, but it's more of a shocked smile really. "I love it."

Cinna smiles wide. "Good. I was afraid you would of it to be too simple."

"No, it's just simple enough." I say, and my grin fades to a simple smile as i get used to the girl in the mirror.

We take the elevator to the level where we trained. It's customary for the victor and his or her support team to rise from beneath the stage. First the prep team, followed by the escort, the stylist, the mentor, and finally the victor. I find myself in a poorly lit area under the stage. Cinna and the prep team peel off to change into their own costumes and take their positions, leaving me alone.

Haymitch appears out of nowhere, placing a hand on my shoulder. I almost jump, a bit of the arena still in me, but when I see it's him, I relax.

"Easy, just me. Let's have a look at you," Haymitch says. I hold out my arms and turn once. "Good enough."

It's not much of a compliment. "But what?" I say.

Haymitch's eyes shift around my musty holding space, and he seems to make a decision. "But nothing. How about a hug for luck?"

Okay, that's an odd request from Haymitch but, after all, we are victors. Maybe a hug for luck is in order. Only, when I put my arms around his neck, I find myself trapped in his embrace. He begins talking, very fast, very quietly in my ear, my hair concealing his lips.

"Listen up. You're in trouble. Word is the Capitol's furious about you showing them up in the arena. The one thing they can't stand is being laughed at and they're the joke of Panem," says Haymitch.

I feel dread coursing through me now, but I laugh as though Haymitch is saying something completely delightful because nothing is covering my mouth. "So, what?"

"Your only defense is that you were slipping because of everything you were forced to watch and do." Haymitch tells me, pulling back to adjust my headband. "You got it, sweetheart?"

"Got it." I tell him with a nod.

"Good." he says simply, and straightens a red bow tie that Cinna must have somehow forced him to wear. "Just remember, this is your night, enjoy it." he tells me, and then leaves to his position.

Everything rushes so fast through my head that I feel dizzy. Haymitch's words. The deaths. The Tributes. Rue, as herself, and as a Mutt. And Peeta, who had been reduced to nothing but a slab of meat that was happy to kill himself. And me, how I tried to kill myself to prove something.

The anthem booms in my ears, and then I hear Caesar Flickerman greeting the audience. Does he know how crucial it is to get every word right from now on? He must. He will want to help us. The crowd breaks into applause as the prep teams are presented. I imagine Flavius, Venia, and Octavia bouncing around and taking ridiculous, bobbing bows. It's a safe bet they're clueless. Then Effie's introduced. How long she's waited for this moment. I hope she's able to enjoy it because as misguided as Effie can be, she has a very keen instinct about certain things and must at least suspect we're in trouble.

Cinna receives huge cheers, of course, he's been brilliant, and has had a dazzling debut. I now understand Cinna's choice of dress for me for tonight. I'll need to look as innocent as possible. Haymitch's appearance brings a round of stomping that goes on at least five minutes. Well, he's accomplished a first, keeping a Tribute alive. What if he hadn't warned me in time? Would I have acted differently? Flaunted the moment with the berries in the Capitol's face? No, I don't think so. But I could easily have been a lot less convincing than I need to be now. Right now. Because I can feel the plate lifting me up to the stage. I feel the same way I did when I was lifted into arena.

Blinding lights and thunderous applause are the first things that greet me. Then I see Caesar not far away, so I blindly stumble over to him and take my seat, not letting the audience get a good look at my face for even a minute.

I simply sit there under the applause dies down, trying to hide my face from their preying eyes. I've had enough of the Capitol. I wanna go home.

When the show begins, my heart nearly stops as I realize for around three hours I'm going to watch twenty-three people die. This year, they tell the story of a lost child, a young girl who doubted herself from start to end, and somehow managed to turn into someone who was willing to kill if it meant she could live. Because that's what the Games can do to you.

The first half hour or so focuses on the pre-arena events, the reaping, the chariot ride through the Capitol, our training scores, and our interviews. There's this sort of upbeat soundtrack playing under it that makes it twice as awful because, of course, almost everyone on-screen is dead.

Once we're in the arena, it focuses on the bloodbath, giving a detailed image in my head. I flinch when the show Clove tackling Rue, just like Rue had said. Clove raises her knife in the air after making a few cuts on Rue's body, and it just about to slit her throat, when Thresh knocks her off of Rue, and Rue runs away the same way I had ran, after grabbing the slingshot.

After that it follows me, Rue, and every now and then before we run into her, Fay, her journey that sent her our way. Turns out she, like she had said, had been setting up traps almost everywhere, hoping a Career would stumble upon them. The show informs me of what tribute certain cannons belonged to, Rue had let me sleep through most of the projections at night that told you.

After me, Rue, and Fay kill Marvel and Glimmer, it follows Fay to the Career camp, where she confronts Clove and Cato. It's a sad and painful death. First, Cato rams his sword through her stomach, and before she can fall to the ground, dead, Clove stabs her a few more times all over her body with Fay's own dagger, then slits her throat. I find myself crying at this, and hide my face even more, I never thought it would be so painful for her.

After that, it focuses on me and Rue, and on Cato and Clove, occasionally showing you how Peeta or Thresh were holding out. When Clove's throwing knife hits Rue, it all comes back to me, and new tears begin to flow. I watch helplessly at Clove's blade enters Rue's stomach, and then, I gasp with shock as I shoot an arrow into her throat. What had I become? A killer. That's what.

I watch on the edge of my seat as I rush to Rue's side, sing her sleep, and then bury her in flowers, which I'm surprised they decided to show. After that, it's all about me, Thresh, and Peeta.

It shows me how the Mutts appeared out of nowhere before Peeta, chased him, managed to catch Thresh in their stampede as well, and then they all broke through my clearing, and I, full of fear, rushed into my tree, where I watched Thresh get torn apart, and then killed him to end his suffering.

After that, me and Peeta are the main focus. It shows the fire in my eyes, my determination to live. I'm ashamed. I watch with hesitation as the Mutts come back up, and only then do I really see everything they did to Peeta. I flinch at everything they do to him, only occasionally am I on the screen, because the Capitol is eating up what happened to Peeta. After that, I give him the nightlock, cry a little, and then try to kill myself. Yep, just how I remembered.

I doesn't show the medics attacking me and forcing me to spit out the berries, it just shows my failed suicide attempt. Nothing more, it just fades to black. The anthem's playing yet again and I rise as President Snow himself takes the stage followed by a little girl carrying a cushion that holds the crown. He approaches me and places it on my head, a warm smile on his face, but his eyes, they are full or hatred and venom. He wants me dead just as much as I did.

After that, Caesar Flickerman bids the audience a good night and reminds them to tune in tomorrow for the final interviews. He says it like they have a choice. After that, Haymitch takes me to the Victory Banquet. I don't get time to eat because everyone is elbowing each other away to get a picture with me. After the night drones on, Haymitch takes me back to the twelfth floor of the Training Center, he dismisses me to go to sleep, reminding me I'll be on at two. At first I disagree, saying I'd rather do something else, but he's more stubborn than me, and I end up in bed, falling into an uneasy sleep.


	18. Chapter 18: The Woods

**Katniss Everdeen's POV**

It's the final day. It has to be. Ten days or maybe even more have passed since any blood has been shed. The Gamemakers are going to do something, and my sweet little sister, Primrose Everdeen, is not going to live to the next day.

The mandatory viewing is happening right now, though, so I'm sitting in the woods with Gale, trying to hold back my tears, but he can see right through it. He stops what he's doing with his snares and sits down next to me, placing an arm over my shoulders.

"She'll be okay," Gale says, his voice soft and gentle. "She's survived this long, she can live another day."

I sigh and lean against him. Since Prim has left, Gale and me have been even closer than normal. He was the only one who was there for me when my world fell down, since then almost every barrier of my emotion has broken. And he's helped me through it.

"I hope you're right," I mumble, so quiet I can barely hear it myself, but I know he can hear it. "Can you watch it with me?" I almost beg, because I need him there. He simply nods. "Thanks."

Gale gets up, taking my hand and pulling me to my feet as well. "It'll be on soon, we should be heading back." he tells me, and I nod, picking up my almost empty game bag. Ever since Prim left, my aim has been off, my hands have been shaky, and I've barely gotten any game. The baker has helped us though, giving us cake and breads, and Lady supplies us with all the milk and cheese we need. It's more than enough for us to live on.

We walk silently back to the fence, I slide under and through it first, followed by Gale. He walks me back to my house, and we both walk in.

"Hey, Mrs. Everdeen." Gale says with a painted smile, before we both sit silently on the couch in front of the static television, waiting for it to come back to life. After about five minutes, it does, the Capitol seal greets us, and then it gets right down to business.

More shots of Prim, playing in the dirt, eating the Career's food. So innocent, she doesn't deserve an ending like this. I wish I had been fast enough to volunteer. Suddenly, the screen breaks away from Prim, and now it focuses on Peeta. This is it. The twist. I bite my lip in anticipation.

"What do you thinks going to happen?" I ask Gale, trying to ignore the knot in my stomach. I'm answered when suddenly a hole opens in the ground, and out-steps about two dozen or maybe a few less Mutts. They look in their eyes...they're out for blood.

Peeta, the boy who claims to be in love with me, runs as fast as he can, leaving behind some of his food for the Mutts to try and slow them down. It's no use though, they want him. Peeta yells out as Thresh suddenly appears, and it about to break a rock over his head, but then the giant sees the Mutts, and they're both running. Just before they get there, I realize they're running in Prim's direction.

Peeta comes through first, and Prim, thinking on her feet, but not even knowing what she's up against, climbs as high as she can up a tree, looking down in fear as Thresh comes out, followed by the Mutts. Prim screams as Thresh is cornered and attacked. Then, she tries to kill some of them. She does take a good number of them out, but it's not nearly enough to save the already close-to-dead Thresh.

Suddenly Prim cries out and stops, tears suddenly running down her cheeks. What happened? Did Peeta throw something at her? Can the Mutts climb?

"Gale, what's-?" I stop in mid-question, because now I see it. All the Tributes that died. The Mutts...they _are_ the Tributes. The first one I recognize is little Rue, Prim's ally, now, Prim's enemy. The little girl who Prim sung to sleep, now some kind of intelligent human-wolf Mutt, and her only goal is probably to tear off Prim's face.

Prim stares at the fire-haired wolf with dead green eyes for a little while before I get it. That's Fay, Prim's ally turned protector. And she killed her, so says the throwing knife sticking out of Fay's throat. Prim's tears shake me and suddenly, I'm hugging Gale as tight as I can, looking for comfort, he gives it, wrapping a blanket around her as holding me. I feel a little better.

Thresh is getting torn about, shredded, he's almost unrecognizable. I pray for a cannon, but it refuses to come. Eventually after a little more of this, Prim weakly strings an arrow, and half a second later it's in Thresh's throat. Maybe if she's up for it, if she ever comes home, I _could_ teach her how to hunt. Thresh's cannon sounds, the hovercraft takes him, and then the Mockingjays in the arena begin to sing again.

Prim and Peeta meet, at first Prim is hostile and tries to find enough courage to shoot what's in her slingshot at him, but she can't, and just gives it to him. He throws it in the lake. The Mutts come back, all of the ones that remain besides Rue and the District 1 boy...Marvel, I think, gang up on him, biting him, clawing him, killing him.

Rue and Marvel corner Prim, and Marvel attacks her, taking a chunk of her leg in his teeth and trotting away to chew on it. Prim looks at her leg, and I think she's close to fainting, but she composes herself and tries to put together a plan.

Rue could attack Prim, but she doesn't, she stays back, almost as if...almost as if she remembers the alliance. But, that's impossible. Little Rue is nothing but a Mutt now, Mutts don't think. They kill. Prim tries to run towards a tree, but Marvel doesn't like the sudden movement and pins her on her back, ready to shred her to pieces.

No, Rue jumps into the air and tackles him, then she and Marvel begin to fight, attempting to kill each other by any means possible. Prim scrambles up a tree and watches in fear as Rue rips open Marvel's chest, killing him, and then goes back to the rest of her pack to join in killing Peeta.

By the time Peeta is nothing but a slab of meat, moaning in pain, the hole opens again and the Mutts vanish into it, but not before little Rue gives Prim a look of gratitude and care, and then she's gone. Prim is stunned by this, but comes down from her tree anyway. She takes off her jacket, tears off part of the sleeve and wraps it around her leg. She sits down quietly next to Peeta, and apparently to something outside of my knowledge, says he was more than a piece in the Capitol's game. I understand what she means, but I wish I knew more about what was going on inside both of their heads.

Prim gets up, and grabs some berries that I easily recognize as nightlock. What is she doing? She can't kill herself. No, she isn't. She sits back down next to Peeta, tells him the berries will give him a quick end, and then she watches him eat them.

She wanders away, crying, letting the hovercraft take him. Just as another hovercraft comes for her, she almost smirks, and then looks at the berries in her hand, taking two of them. She plops them in her mouth.

"No!" I scream. She had it all, she was going to win. Why would she pull this stunt? As I struggle to get away, my blanket suddenly becomes a straight jacket. "Prim!"

Suddenly, Capitol medics rush out of the hovercraft, attacking Prim. They pin her down and make her spit of the berries, then they force her onto the hovercraft. She screams for a little while, then Effie Trinket sedates her. Fade to black, Capitol seal, the end.

"She's alive?" I ask, Gale nods, and I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. "She's alive." this time I say it as a statement instead of a question. "Thank god." I barely whisper, and my heart is thudding so fast that I think Gale can hear it. "What do you thinks going to happen now...because of the berries?"

Gale as complex and ponderous as always, simply shakes his head, holding me as tight as he can. "We should go back to the woods and-"

"Yeah..." I mumble. "The woods." I nod, and we both go back to the fence, neither of us grab our game bags or weapons, we just sit in the grass, trying to clear out heads. It doesn't work.

**HEY! How'ya doin'? Another author's note! So, I was asked by a reviewer to show how Katniss is taking to all this 'Prim's in the games' stuff, so I made this, I think it covers chapters 15, 16, and just a LITTLE bit of 17. So what did ya' think, care to review, my dear reader? Just push the button and type a smiley or something! 'Kay? :)**


	19. Chapter 19: Homecoming

I play with my Mockingjay pin. Throughout the Games I had forgotten about it, I was half surprised Rue never mentioned it, because of her fondness of Mockingjays. When I woke up, however, Effie Trinket greeted me with an overly happy smile, informing me it would be another, "Big, big, big day!" So I ate some hot grain for a bit, then my prep team descended on me, and I was forced into getting ready for the interview I don't want to attend. When Cinna came in, he happened to have my Mockingjay pin, which he had taken from my arena outfit, and he was kind enough to return it to me. So I play with it, enjoying the way the light glints off of it.

I don't even really pay attention to what my prep team is doing, they take advantage of this by trying to put a bit more make up on me than usual, but Cinna only lets them get away with some of it. He lightly curls my hair, as usual, and then offers me my dress and shoes. It's a forest green dress that reaches a little past my knees and offers little warmth, and a pair of matching flats that seem to have elaborate designs on them, they look sort of like trees.

"Why green?" I ask, examining myself.

Cinna smiles. "You act more lively around these colors." he tells me.

Oh, yes. These colors remind me of Katniss, so it's only natural that I act my best around them. Cinna's smart like that. Besides, these colors make me a bit happier about the interview, because when it's over, I get to go home.

The interview takes place right down the hall in the sitting room. A space has been cleared and the love seat has been moved in and surrounded by vases of red and pink roses. There are only a handful of cameras to record the event. No live audience at least.

Caesar Flickerman gives me a warm hug when I. come in. "Congratulations, Primrose. How are you faring?"

"Fine. Nervous about the interview," I say.

"Don't be. We're going to have a fabulous time," he says, giving my cheek a reassuring pat.

"If you say so." I mumble so quietly I'm not sure he heard it.

Then it's time for the interview to begin. Someone counts backwards, and then we're live. Someone counts backward and just like that, we're being broadcast live to the entire country. Caesar Flickerman is wonderful, teasing, joking, getting choked up when the occasion presents itself. I smile when I can, trying to think of something positive, but find that I'm having trouble trying to hold onto my humble angle when I think about how all these people we're probably betting on me dying on the first day. I smirk to myself when I think about how much money I probably cost them. That is, if _anyone_ was even betting on me.

"So, Prim," Caesar says, pulling me away from my smug thoughts. "Did you ever really think you'd come out of that arena in one piece?" he asks, then laughs so that it doesn't sound too rude.

"Not really," I tell him honestly. "One twelve year old who's never even really held a weapon before against twenty three other people." I say. "It's...not exactly a hopeful situation."

Caesar laughs playfully again. "I can't imagine it is." he says. "And how was the arena from your point of view, how did you feel when you heard the final cannon?"

I think for a moment, saying the wrong thing could get me killed. "I felt...empty. Like I had lost everything in the Games," I say, hoping the audience will play into my hands and feel pity for me. I hear a few sad sounds from the Capitol people. Yes, it's working.

"And that's why you tried to eat the berries?"

Hm, I thought they didn't show the Capitol people attacking me with the berries. "Yes," I mumble. "I...just...too many things were rushing through my head at that moment," I tell him. "I actually thought I might pass out, when I saw the hovercraft coming for me, I just...snapped, I guess." I say, but I doubt this is even a little believable because of the smirk I sported just before I went for the berries. I look to Haymitch for approval, nope, it's not enough.

"Really?" Caesar asks me, and I nod. "Hm, well I guess those doctors must have done a good job on you if your this composed now." he says. Yes! There it is, a chance to be humble.

"Yes, the doctors are amazing," I say. "I mean, part of my _leg_was missing, and now I'm fine." I declare. "Isn't that incredible?" I ask, Caesar nods. I glance at Haymitch, he sports a smirk. Good, maybe this is the shovel I can use to dig my way out. "And I guess I still have Haymitch to thank for everything he taught me before I went into the arena." I say.

Some of the cameras pan to Haymitch, but they quickly return to me. After that, not much happens, we discuss small things like, what made me trust Fay? What was going through my head when Rue called out to me on the first day? Why did I try to save Thresh? Things like that. When we're done, Caesar signs off, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

I approach Haymitch. "Okay?"

"Good enough." he mumbles.

I think about going back to my room, but there would be nothing to take but the Mockingjay pin, and I already have it, so there's no use. I'm full of eagerness and dread. I'm eager to see Katniss and mother and Rory, but I'm dreading that President Snow will find a way to kill me before we even get there.

I zone out most of dinner, even though it's huge. We watch a replay of the interviews when it's over, I look shy and innocent and scared...perfect.

When the train stops to get fuel and we're allowed to go outside, I waste no time in running out, almost tripping over my own feet. I simply sigh and sit on the ground for a while, staring at the train, mourning everything I've lost over the past few weeks. When Haymitch calls me to tell me it's time to get back on, I limply walk back inside.

I sit on the couch in front of the television, watching some replays of the Games, closing my eyes at some moments to hold back tears. I watch the Games because I'm determined to stay awake, but when we get close to 12, Haymitch shakes me awake, and I find I've fallen asleep right where I was sitting.

Through the window, I can see the platform's thick with cameras. Everyone will be eagerly watching my homecoming. My thoughts go back to Rory and Katniss. I miss them, and now I'm about to see them again. I'm a killer now. Maybe I've lost Rory as a friend...I don't know. But when we reach the shabby little station in 12, the only thing I really notice is Haymitch tucking a primrose into my hair, reminding me not to forget the role I'm playing. The little girl who got pushed over the edge and is still struggling to get fully back to her feet.

When the train doors fly open, at first, all the camera flashes stun me, when I get used to it, I stumble out of the train. When I trip over a rock, it's Katniss who runs to my side and catches me, kissing me on top of the head. I compose myself and wrap my arms around her, saying how much I love her and how much I missed her. My mother hugs me next, holding me tight and telling me that she and Katniss were fine while I was gone. But she's wrong, I can tell by the dead look in both Katniss' and mother's eyes.

Next I see the Hawthornes. Gale picks me up, spins me around and kisses me on the cheek, acting like a brother, and in some sense he is. Vick and Posy are jabbering something about my slingshot, and Hazelle is just smiling her simple warm smile. Rory comes last. He smiles at me, informing me of how much he missed me.

He hugs me, I hug him back. So many things are going through my head, I feel a little dizzy. Do I like him? Does he like me? Do I scare him now? I blink, coming to a conclusion with my thoughts. So, just before he pulls away from the hug, I decide I'm tired of playing games. So I kiss him.


	20. Sequel?

Hey! I wished to inform you that the last chapter was the final chapter of "The Little Girl On Fire", so I was just wondering what you guys might think if I made a sequel?

You know, like how Catching Fire and Mockingjay would be if it was little Prim instead of Katniss was the Mockingjay and stuff like that. So, do you think I should do it? Hm? Review what you think of the idea and the story, bye! :)

~BloomingRue


	21. It Is Here!

Hey, you readers still there? Nice to see ya', just thought I'd tell you, in case you didn't know, that I've put a sequel to this, three chapters up so far, and more coming. Bye!

~BloomingRue


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